Besieged
by Mechacanine
Summary: An epic adventure of good vs evil. Brave heroes rising up and fighting off the tides of the twisted, cruel, and insane. That epic tale has ended and the heroes are now living legends. But now a set of 8 youths rise up to make their own legend. The children of the legendary heroes set out on their own, but are they truly ready for the dangers that lie ahead?
1. Chapter 1

Legendary Shadows

By Mecha-Mightyanador

Book 1: Besieged

Chapter 1

The sunlight of a new morning spread across the small and tranquil forest. As the nocturnal pokemon that resided in the area returned to their homes to sleep, the morning mon began to slowly stir, one after the other. The early rays of light cascaded over the spread of green, a few glints of other colors visible through the trees, either from pokemon or flowers blooming. The silence made the whole scene complete, with the only disturbance the occasional call of a morning goer. Morning dew glistened upon blades of grass, upon the leaves of the trees, even upon the moss that clung to the stones.

And somewhere amidst the forest, located in a large area that was worn from all the pokemon that traveled through it, was a small, quiet gathering. The spot was the center of a pokemon "village" of sorts, a large number of different pokemon called the place home, living together in peace, calling caves, hollow trees, holes in the ground, and holes within or under trees home. And the pokemon gathered in this spot…were celebrities amongst the village. There were 16 in total; eight of them were aged adults, the other young, barely past puphood.

The adults consisted of: a male houndoom, who had a horn broken halfway, a scar over his right eye, which was red while the other eye was a dark black or purple…his pupil barely standing out; a female absol, who stood proud, white fur neatly groomed and displaying her beauty to all, but it was a beauty that belonged to the houndoom beside her; a female raichu, who stood as an opposite to the absol, her fur messy, but a fire in her eyes that spoke of her tenacity; a male mightyena whose fur was messy, but with several scars across it…such was to be expected; a peculiar male typhlosion, his fur a contrast to any other of his kind, black upon grey instead of blue upon a cream color, alongside purple fire upon his back; a female tyranitar, who body betrayed the gentle soul she had inside the shell, which looked to be cracked all over, but a close look showed that it was in fact markings, odd coloration to be sure; the most peculiar of the group was another male mightyena, but upon his back was a set of dragonite wings, from his sides came two long tentacles, and all over his body were the scars of several terrible battles; and finally a female floatzel, who's back showed two white spots, despite the fact she was female, and the spot upon her belly…was in the shape of a heart.

The young mon who stood facing the adults were: a female houndour, a shiny one, with brilliant blue fur, and around her neck was a golden chain necklace with a houndoom making a heart shaped flame, with a heart shaped ruby inside the flame, eyes of a dark violet; an male absol, with a black spot upon his forehead, unlike other absol, who had the spot the same color as their skin, and upon his back was a sword, a little smaller than him, and deep dark red eyes; a male quilava, with the same coloration as the adult, black over grey, but upon his fur were several cracks that displayed the opposite color, possessing eyes of bright crimson; a male Pikachu with black fur on his front paws and feet, the markings resembling that of a mightyena, with brown eyes; a female poochyena, with black tipped ears and eyes of similar brown coloration; a male buizel, with dragonite wings on back, a tentacle coming from each side, he also possessed the black mightyena eye markings and deep blue eyes; a female buizel, who also possessed the wings and tentacles, and emerald colored eyes; and a female poochyena, who like the previous two, possessed tentacles and wings, along with brilliant sapphire eyes for her shiny colored body.

The adult houndoom look at the young pokemon, "You kids be careful out there. Azur, Flint…you both know from experience that a little trip can be beset by a lot of trouble."

The houndour and young absol both nodded, the female nodding, "We know daddy." She smiled, "But we came out on top didn't we? Flint and I will be fine. And so will everyone else."

The raichu nodded, "We know you will…but don't get cocky…you never know what will happen next." The female than nuzzled into the normal mightyena, "Of course…that's not always a bad thing."

The Pikachu groaned, "Mom! We don't want to see you and dad all lovey dovey!"

"Oh hush Rein." The unaltered mightyena spoke, "And take good care of Cryst you hear? And the others too of course."

The young, wingless, poochyena looked down, speaking pretty low, "We'll be okay dad." The mightyena smiled, nodding.

The tyranitar picked up the quilava, and hugged him, "You take care now Taze." The little male nodded, and was set down. The typhlosion than gave him a pat on the back, "You're strong Taze…don't forget that. And don't let anyone push you around. Hear me." Once again the quilava nodded, smiling lightly.

The winged mightyena flicked his wings out, "I expect you three to be strong and brave while you're traveling." He looked to the three who shared his wings and tentacles, "Don't forget you're my kids…and that means you don't let anyone mess with you or your friends."

The lone male of the 3 rolled his eyes, "You don't need to tell us twice…I'll mop the floor with anyone stupid enough to pick a fight with me."

The floatzel smiled, "Just don't go picking fights yourself Mako." She turned to the other buizel, "Blair…try to stay somewhat calm. And Derra…keep an eye on your brother…make sure he doesn't do anything to get himself hurt." The winged poochyena girl nodded, smiling happily at her mother.

The buizel girl sighed, "Come on come on! I wanna go now…there's just so much out there to do…I can't wait I can't wait!" she giggled excitedly. "Adventure! Love! Romance! Dancing! Songs and legends!"

That was reason for this gathering. The eight parents had gathered to see their offspring off. Their kids had wanted to go out into the world…see what their planet had to offer. It wasn't a surprise of course…they had been the same. In fact…the reason their children had wanted to go off on their own travels was because they had heard so many tales of their parents' exploits. Overcoming armies, led by vile and twisted monsters…standing against odds that greater than any mountain. Of course the young ones knew that it wasn't all glory and victory…one of them had stood in defiance at first…fighting against the others…before succumbing to the good in their heart and fighting with them rather than against them.

And, by far the most somber story…being that one of them had died. By the hand of an evil monster, one of them had been slain…then brought back from the dead to fight his old friends.

But those tales were long past now, the parents had since settled down, intent on raising their families and living together as a big extended family. And those bounds shone through in their children, who weren't just friends…they acted like siblings.

The houndoom sighed, "I guess you guys should get going. Remember…don't do anything foolish. And never forget…you're family…no matter what."

The kids all nodded, all giving their parents one last hug, before they turned their backs to their old home…and set out into the large world. Leading the way was Azur, the blue houndour smiling big as she walked along the path. Flint was just beside her, silent save for the shuffle of his sword on his back. The others were following, quiet themselves, as the mood of their departure weighed heavily on them…they would no longer have their parents around…they only had each other…but…that would be enough.

As they left the tree line of the forest, Azur took a sprint forward. "Alright…time to show the world we're just as good as our parents!"

The others stood behind her, looking out over the world before them. The bold statement had raised their spirits, plastering smiles on their faces; they were confident they could live up to that boast. Mako crossed both his arms and tentacles, "Standing here and talking won't do much oh fearless leader…we need to get moving…and to do that we need a destination."

Rein nodded, sparking up, "I'm eager to go myself…but where will we go. It has to be a place where the people…especially the ladies…can see I'm such a great and impressive Pikachu." He grinned, "And when they see me in action…poof…they'll be falling over me."

Cryst rolled her eyes at her brother's actions, "Well…we could…" she spoke softly, which quickly brought forth a call for her to speak up, which made her blush, "Umm…well…maybe…we could go to…one of the places…our parents went to?"

Blair grinned, "oh yeah! That sounds so cool! We should so totally do that! Hey! How about that place where that one snake guy was!? What was his name…potochi? Munochi?"

Derra giggled, "Orochi, Blair. And that does sound kinda fun." She looked to the others, "Orochi did make our parents a big name…" The golden furred poochyena said with a cheerful tone, happy with the idea.

Mako scoffed, "Not our mom and dad Derra…remember…dad was still a big asshole at that time. And mom wasn't anywhere in sight."

Derra nodded, "Point Mako. But…still…Koshi castle could be a fun place."

Taze raised his paw, "umm…do we even know where Koshi castle is?"

"I know…mom and dad told me…since that place was so important to them." Flint spoke out, quickly calling the attention of all the others. Flint's previous travels with their parents had made him an object of respect…more so than Azur. While the houndour had indeed been present during the adventure, she admitted that Flint had done a lot more than her. The absol continued, "But…mom and dad said the castle collapsed down to the ground after Orochi's defeat. I doubt we'll find much."

Azur nodded, "Maybe…but it's the best we can do right now. I'm sure we'll find something when we get there…maybe even before." She smiled, "Come on! We're going to the ruins of Koshi castle! Grave of the once mighty Orochi!" She raise one of her paws, and pointed toward a direction, "Onward!" Flint rolled his eyes, adjusting her paw's direction by 90 degrees…toward where Koshi castle was. Azur cleared her throat, "like I said…Onward!"

The houndour quickly took off, forcing some of the others to run after her. Flint and Mako were the only ones who didn't go running, choosing instead to go at a leisurely trot. Mako shook his head, "Idiots." Flint remained silent, looking to the horizon with a subdued expression on his face. He knew that they wouldn't face anything like what their parents had fought…in fact they most likely wouldn't fight any major evil whatsoever. But they would still face challenges…and that struck fear into his heart. What on earth would happen when he came upon those challenges…what would he become in the eyes of the others.

"Flint! Mako! Hurry up you slow pokes!" Azur called out, standing on her hind paws, waving at the two of them, prompting them to move faster…slightly.

In a dark room, in a stronghold, somewhere in the world, stood several figures. Two of the figures were tall, one of them long, most of the body across the ground. The last figure was small in comparison to the others. They all stood before another, this one sitting in a grand throne. The long one spoke, "You called usssss massster?"

The figure in the throne spoke in response, "Yes…the time has come at last. The preparations are complete…and we can start moving. As such…you lot need to get to work on specific tasks."

One of the two tall figures spoke up, "Yes sire…what do you need done?"

Upon the throne, the figure gave a malevolent smirk, eyes shining, "A few things need to be done actually." His cackle echoed out in the room, the low chuckles of his followers adding to the chorus. The vile melody of laughter left the confines of the room thanks to a high window...allowing the mass of soldiers outside to hear the joy from their leaders.


	2. Chapter 2

Besieged

Chapter 2

By Mecha-Mightyanador

Azur stretched out, rising from the ground. She looked to the sky, seeing the first rays of sunlight piercing through the forest from the horizon. There was a faint mist around the spot where the group had chosen to sleep for the night. Azur walked around the area, stretching out her legs as she checked on everyone. She was the leader of this group after all, so she had to make sure her little group was all good and fit.

As she inspected her little party, she noticed that Flint was awake. "Morning."

He rose, stretching, "Same." He slipped into his sword sheath, using the mouth strap to make sure his blade was secure on his back. As Azur sat down to scratch at an itch behind her ear, "How long do you think it'll take us to get to Koshi castle bro?"

Flint shrugged, sitting to wait for the others to wake, "I don't know. We've never been there, so we have no idea how far it is…all we know is the direction, and that's only thanks to mom and dad."

Azur nodded, "Yeah. I hope they're okay." She looked in the direction of their home, "Those guys always seem to get in trouble."

A yawn alerted them to another of the group awakening. Cryst stood up, scratching at her neck, turning to see the eldest in the group awake, "oh…morning guys."

Azur smiled, "Morning Cryst. Hey, you're smart, how long do you think it'll take us to reach Koshi."

Cryst thought about it, "Well…going off what our parents' said…I'd guess…maybe 3…4 days." She closed her eyes, trying to put all the facts together from what the stories they had heard. "Yeah…3 or 4 days." She would have added, 'as long as nothing comes up.' But she knew that was a sure fire way of making something happen.

Flint looked around, "Misty this morning." He exhaled, shutting his eyes, taking in the quiet atmosphere of the forest. He loved the silence of morning, the mist gently moving across the ground. There was just something about the stillness that made the mornings so perfect. His eyes opened upon hearing the fidgeting and sighing of his sister, making him roll his eyes.

Azur sighed, walking back and forth, looking to the others, wondering when they'd wake up and resume their trip to Koshi Castle. She was tempted to wake them up, but that would make her a bad leader, so instead she had to wait…and wait…and wai...she turned when she heard a few of the others waking up. Mako and his sisters Blair and Derra were rising from their sleep, all three stretching out their wings and tentacles. The shiny poochyena turning to her siblings with a smile, "Morning Blair. Morning Mako."

The male buizel grunted in response, walking over to a nearby berry bush to eat his breakfast. Blair giggled, rushing over to eat up too, "Oh I just love these berries." She began to happily starting munching, as the other joined them in feasting. As the group ate their fill, Taze and Rein joined them, the Pikachu striding forward, "You know you guys should have woke me up. The stunning heavy hitter of this group needs to eat if he's going to keep you all safe." The chu quickly began eating. Blair swallowed what she had in her mouth, "Why do you think Mako and Flint are eating?"

Rein frowned as the others, short of the two Blair mentioned, started laughing. The chu's ears fell flat, as he mumbled while eating up, "You're cruel Blair." The buizel just giggled, feeling quite proud of herself, before looking to Azur, "So, how long will it be before we reach Koshi Castle anyway?"

"About 3 or 4 days from the looks of it." Azur looked toward the horizon where the ruins of the fortress rested, "Wonder what the place is like."

Mako grunted, gulping down the last berry, "We'll find out when we get to the damn place. Since we're all done eating, let's move out. I'm getting bored just standing here. The others all nodded, heading toward their destination. As they walked Flint looked about, finding something peculiar. The mist wasn't dissipating, in the slightest, and it even looked to be getting thicker.

"…I don't like this." Flint spoke out, looking around at the mist that had become a fog. "Do you guys here that?"

Rein perked his ears, trying to see if he could hear anything, but all was silent except for them. "I don't hear a thing."

Mako nodded, "Exactly…where are all the locals. This place shouldn't be so damn deserted."

Flint was ready to grab his blade, "Something must have scared everyone off. We should be on our guard." The others all nodded, as they proceeded forward, eyes and ears keened. Flint was leading the march, constantly scanning the area as he was taught to do, 'Focus in on the slightest disturbance, analyze it, and quickly judge it's threat…all in the time it takes to take a step forward.' The words rang in his head, his muscle tensing, waiting for the slightest hint of danger. He was ready to strike.

A crack loudly rang out in the silent fog, the mass of mon looking about for the source. Flint had gotten the direction of the noise, but he couldn't tell what had made it…his view was blocked by a tree. Another crack, which quickly became a crackling, and his eyes went wide, "MOVE! TREE!"

The tree that had blocked his vision was the source of the noise, as it slowly fell towards the group. Flint's warning gave them ample time to get out of the giant plant's path though. As the group scattered from the descending wood, a shadow in the fog ran. With a loud thud, the tree had landed on the damp earth, and thankfully nothing else. Azur stood up shaking herself of any dirt and dead leaves, "Whew…that was close. You guys okay?" she looked around, but heard nothing, "Guys?" she looked around, feeling an unpleasant feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Guys!? Where are you?"

Taze walked into view, "Umm…I'm here." He looked around, "I don't know where the others are."

Azur looked around the tree, afraid someone had been squashed, but she saw no one. "What happened to the others?"

Taze went a little off into the fog, "I don't knoWOAH!" He grabbed at a tree root, "Help!"

Azur's ears perked, rushing for the quilava, skidding to a stop on the edge of a steep slope. Taze had walked off, not paying attention to the ground at his feet. "I think I know what happened to some of them." She helped pull Taze up, "You okay Taze?"

The quilava nodded quickly, walking away from the cliff quickly. Azur shook her head; he was being a bit cowardly, getting so scared from a cliff. She walked up to him, bumping her side into his, "Don't be such a scaredy skitty. It was just a little drop. Come on, let's keep moving, I'm sure we'll meet up with the others if we reach the end of this forest."

Taze nodded mutely, looking at the ground as he walked beside her…though staying behind a bit, his face significantly warmer than before. Azur kept her eyes peeled, scanning left and right, "don't let your guard down Taze…something else might happen."

Taze nodded mutely again, forcing his up to keep his eyes peeled for anything problematic. He found it hard to keep his eyes from lingering on Azur though…and how great a leader she was. She always had an aura of courage and confidence, never letting a slight issue daunt her. He realized that the heat in his face was growing, so he forced his attention on watching their flanks, since any one would be a good spot to attack.

Azur's ears were perked, waiting for the slightest hint that someone was nearby, be they friend or foe. Since she wasn't too sure how well Taze could handle himself in a fight, especially given how he looked so scared of a near drop, she figured she'd be on her own in any battle. No biggy though, she was experienced, no way anyone could be as tough as the foes she's faced already. Even with protecting Taze, she'd still be able to kick any butt that had the gall to try something on her watch.

Flint grumbled, standing up after his tumble down the slope. Looking around he saw that Blair and Cryst had joined him in his tumble down. "Blair, Cryst…you guys okay?"

The two slowly got up, mumbling after the fall. The tentacle and winged buizel nodded after a bit, "Yeah…I'm okay. Just a bit shaken up."

Cryst nodded in agreement, looking around for the others, "Where's everyone else?"

Flint scanned the area, "They must have avoided the drop we took." He looked up the slope, unable to see the top through the fog. "I don't know if we can climb up this…so…" he looked in the direction of Koshi castle. "We'll go this way. I'm sure we'll find the others if we get out of the forest." The girls nodded, and followed him as he led the way. He didn't want to mention that he was worried what would happen if they or the other groups encountered who had caused this silence…and most likely the tree's fall.

Their trudge through the fog was filled with silence, an unsettling silence that Flint didn't like. The girls kept an eye on their sides, sharing vigil on their backside, helping Flint keep watch for any potential danger. Cryst was worried about her brother, hoping he was okay. "Don't worry Cryst. Rein isn't THAT dumb. I'm sure he's fine." The poochyena looked to Blair, seeing the buizel smile before returning to look around for potential trouble. Cryst nodded her head, going back to her watch.

Rein coughed repeatedly, spitting out some water. "Just my…*cough* luck. I leap into the stupid river." After the tree fell, Rein, Mako, and Derra had ran to one side, unfortunately their path took them directly to a river, which the promptly fell into. Rein was so caught off guard he nearly drowned, had Mako not helped him out of the water.

Derra patted the pikachu's back, helping make sure all the water was out of his system, "We got caught in it too."

Rein looked to her, "But you and Mako can swim." It was a fact, a side effect of having a floatzel mother, and a mightyena father who loved swimming almost as much as his mate. The 3 winged pups of the 2 of course were bound to swim…quite well.

Derra rubbed her head with a tentacle, "I guess you're right." She helped him stand up.

Mako grunted, looking around their location, "I don't see the others." He looked towards the distance, "Come on. We'll find them by the time we leave the forest I'm sure. I just hope I can find whoever tried to drop that tree on us." He made a fist with his paw while his tentacles flickered.

The chu nodded, "I hear that. Jerk has some pain coming for that stunt. He'll soon learn why you never mess with Rein!" he started walking, "I'll lead the way."

Mako rolled his eyes, "Idiot."

Derra smiled at her brother, "Than why did you save him?"

The buizel gruffed, "You would have done it anyway." He strode behind the electric type, casting his eyes all around to make sure nothing was going to take them by surprise. Derra did her part too, keeping an eye on their surroundings and looking for any shadow in the fog that might betray who was trying to do her and her friends and family harm. Rein kept his eyes focused on where he was going, to avoid walking into another river, but his ears were primed for the slightest noise that would betray his foes current position.

A strange creature sat upon throne, made out of a large rock that once rested on the area. It looked out, tapping its fingers against the stone throne. It was waiting for the intruders into its domain it had discovered earlier to arrive. It didn't have long to wait, its eyes piercing the fog to see that the trespassers had gathered just ahead.

Azur gave a small sigh of relief upon seeing familiar faces coming out of the fog, "Guys…glad to see you're all okay."

Flint nodded as the others hugged and spoke of their own relief. "Yeah. You guys find who tried to crush us."

Mako shook his head, "No. Coward probably ran when he missed."

"Coward? I'm no coward!" Flint immediately turned to face the source of the voice, and was shocked by what he saw. "I'm ruler of this realm! And you lot are intruders! For such transgressions, you must be killed!"

The thing that was currently speaking to them had the head crest, flowing purple main, and twin tails of a suicune, but it's arms were distinctly machoke short of a human skin tone, and the legs were distinctly sceptile like, once again with a human skin tone. The creature looked like a human, but with a conglomeration of pokemon parts.

Mako glared, "Who the hell are you?"

The creature snarled, "I am your doom!" He rushed towards them. The group quickly split apart, dodging the charge and taking positions for the fight. Mako rushed in first, using an aqua jet to try and get a hit. The abomination leapt back and over the group, slamming down to the ground, shifting up the damp earth. It than quickly went after Flint, bringing its large fist down onto the dark type, "Die!" the limp buried itself into the ground, but Flint had leapt away, drawing his sword and quickly retaliating. Before he could close in to strike though, the creature looked up, opened its mouth, and unleashed a hydro pump. The attack sent Flint tumbling backward, sword embedding itself into a tree.

As it pulled its arm out of the dirt it quickly spun around to stop a water pulse from Blair. "Weakling!" It went forward, a dynamic punch aimed straight for the buizel. As it closed the distance, Rein erupted from the ground, an iron tail connecting with monsters chin, stopping its attack and making it stumble back. Rein quickly got away to avoid a counter attack. "Rat!"

Rein sparked, "What did you call me!?" He unleashed a thunder bolt, the abomination able to stop the attack with a chop of his hand, before opening its mouth to unleash an aurora beam. Rein cried out, blasted away and sent tumbling along the ground.

As the creature smirked, Mako appeared behind him, flipping forward to unleash a sonic boom to the back of the things skull. Before the thing could turn though, Derra came in fast, blasting shadow balls as she flew by. Azur took advantage of the monsters distracted attention, coming from behind with a flamethrower attack, Cryst assailing the abominations front with a dark pulse.

The creature growled in pain, going to a nearby tree and ripping it out from the ground. "Crush you all!" he swung the tree, the attack barely missing several of the group. The attacks pushed everyone back, the creature smirking as his weapon brought their attacks to a stop.

Taze ducked under one swing, looking toward his foe, before giving a small nod and moving right in front of him. "Hey! Ugly ass! Try and stomp me!" The others looked at the quilava like he had gone insane. The monster just laughed, lifting his tree up and then brought it down like a hammer. Taze closed his eyes, focusing.

When the tree hit the ground, a large section of it was blown apart, the top of it flying away. The creature stared in shock at the untouched quilava, "What the!?" Taze opened his eyes, which were glowing the blue glow of a psychic type. Before the creature could register what it was looking at, it was blasted back, a psychic blast knocking him through a tree, and into his throne, crushing the stone.

As it slowly rose up from the ground, it was met by a wall of attacks. The strike created a small explosion, sending the monstrosity tumbling across the ground. The fog began to disappear rapidly following the barrage, as Flint grabbed his sword, and prepared to deliver the finishing blow. Azur held her paw out, shaking her head, the look in her eyes pleading her brother not to do it. Taking a few breaths, he nodded and sheathed his blade. Azur went up to a safe distance from the thing, "Let this be a lesson. Start being nice or we'll come back and mess you up even worse."

She looked to the others, motioning for them to follow her, "Come on guys. Let's get out of this dang forest. We've already lost a lot of time thanks to this jerk." She and the others started to leave. The creature glared after them, getting up and quickly closing the distance they had made, fists raised to crush them one by one. Flint glared, and quickly turned, taking his blade and slashing up into the monsters body. When gravity said the absol had to come back down, he did so by slashing again at the creature.

With two gaping fissures in his body, blood streamed from the wound. The monstrosity fell on his back, coughing up blood. "Im…possible…I was…"

Flint spat, cleaning his blade off and moving to join the others. "We gave him a chance. He didn't want to take it." The others, except for Azur, just stared at the corpse. Even Mako couldn't really wrap his head around the sight. They had all grown up on the tales their parents told…where death was a very common sight, and for some of them and unwanted one. But…actually seeing a dead body, blood pouring from its wounds…it was…strange.

While the others stared at the body, Azur looked to her brother. "Come on guys. Let's get going." Flint called back, quickly snapping everyone back to attention, and slowly they moved forward. As they eventually settled back into the travel formation that was most comfortable, Taze asked the question that had lingered in the back of everyone's heads since they first saw the abomination. "What…made that thing? Do you think…he was a part of Biogen?"

Biogen was a distinct possibility after all. They had been a group their parents fought, which loved to tinker with the genetic makeup of pokemon and humans, blurring the lines between the two. Biogen had been the first threat that their parents had faced together, and it was thanks to them that Taze existed and looked the way he did, his parents being unable to produce offspring normally. Mako, Blair, and Derra also owed their appearance to Biogen, their father having been…one of the evil group at a time.

Cryst nodded, "It makes sense…only Biogen could do something like that." She nodded again, "Plus…it's not like our parents could destroy everything Biogen made." The others all nodded, deciding that Biogen was the only logical conclusion. No one else knew how to engineer DNA so well.

In a dark throne room a human approached the shadowy figure, who was sitting upon the chair the room was named for. "What is it?"

The human bowed before his master, "My lord…I have a report about subject 245-067-254."

The shadow figure nodded, "Ah yes…the one with the suicune DNA. What about it?"

"Apparently, someone or something killed it. Its life signs have dropped."

The figure leaned forward, "What could have killed it?"

The human shook his head, "I have no idea my lord. Readings say that there was a moderately intense battle. That's why I brought it to your attention. I think it would be best to send a scout team to find out what happened. I would also like to have the specimen retrieved to dissect it."

The figure nodded, "Very well…dispatch the team immediately. I want to know what are earth could have destroyed something so remarkable."

The human chuckled, "Please my lord…maybe if those fools were still doing this…he would be remarkable." He turned, "But under you leadership…what Biogen did was child's play." The human took his leave of the room.

The figure sunk into thought, ~Defeating a creature with the power of a legendary isn't an everyday occurrence. Someone of immense power had to have killed it. This means…that individual…or individuals may well be a threat. I can't take any risks…not now. I need to know who on this world could possibly do such an act…and then act accordingly to destroy them.~ A cackle began to ring out in the room.


	3. Chapter 3

Besieged

Chapter 3

By Mecha-Mightyanador

The sun gently came down upon a clear lake, the quiet of the surrounding area giving the place a serene atmosphere. Azur giggled happily, looking across the water, "Hey guys, what do you say we take a little break?" She looked to the others.

The tentacled and winged siblings all agreed to the suggestion, Mako giving a small nod rather than the cheer of his sisters. Rein and Cryst also voiced their consent of the idea, the chu saying how a break was a nice thing even for one as great as him. The comment quickly had Blair pluck him up and throw him in the water. Taze just mumbled quietly, unlike the others, he didn't have any real love for the water. Even Azur loved swimming, unusual for fire type, but spending time with the parents of the winged siblings fostered that love.

Taze's mother and father weren't like any of the other parents though. Both didn't like the water, thanks to their type, one being a fire the other a rock. Still…he didn't mind lounging by the lake, absorbing some sun while the others had fun in the water.

Rein popped out of the water, grabbing onto the shore, "not…funny Blair!" The chu grumbled, looking to the buizel girl. She just giggled, leaping over him and into the water, followed by Derra. Mako leapt in and quickly took off in the water, patrolling it to make sure nothing hostile was going to bother them. The others slowly got into the water themselves, short of Flint and Taze, who both opted to relax nearby, the absol napping while the quilava watched the others, his eyes constantly falling on one in particular.

A splash fight soon erupted, water being launched towards all of the water bound mon, with the exception of Mako who was drifting in the water, relaxing after seeing nothing dangerous was in the water. The male buizel did occasionally open an eye to see how the conflict was going, and he wasn't surprised that Derra and Blair were doing much better than the other 3. He chuckled, "Idiots." He stretched, and went back to lounging.

Taze stretched out, still watching his friends enjoying their splash fight, though he really couldn't understand why. After all…who liked getting water hit in their face…aside from a plant type? He placed his thought out of his head, as he saw that Azur, Rein and Cryst were losing the conflict. Thinking he decided to help her…them…out a bit. Focusing, his eyes started to glow blue, as the splashes of the three suddenly got more force. Though the two winged siblings couldn't understand why, Taze snickered quietly, helping Azur and the others turn the tide.

Mako cracked open an eye, and was a bit surprised to see his sisters losing the fight now, the other 3 managing to unleash some pretty impressive splashes. He wondered how they were doing so good, but shrugged after a few seconds, not really caring. He was about to resume his relaxation, when his eyes caught sight of a nearby cave. Eyeing the formation, he swam to the edge of the lake, and got out of the water. He quietly padded his way up to the entrance of the cave, peaking his head in.

Taking a few sniffs, who could tell no one had resided in this cave for a long time. Believing it safe he went inside a bit, and noticed that there were relics of the caves old denizen. A pile of logs that had been part of a fire, but hadn't been burnt to ash yet, and close to that was a pile of bones from various fish. He easily connected that whoever lived here must have liked cooked food. He chuckled to himself, knowing very well how good cooked meals were. His father, when he was still evil, had eaten it while serving the demon serpent Orochi.

His father had shown his mother how good cooked food was after the parents of the others found the two. Mako remembered that shortly after the experience, his mother had been kidnapped…which was how his father had joined the others in the first place. As Mako understood it, his mother had had an amazing impact on his father…giving him something that he had never had before. The buizel sighed, smiling lightly. He respected and admired his father, and hoped to be like him…and to find a Ferra of his own. Though…a little less embarrassing he mused, since his mother had a habit of calling his father a humiliating nick name.

Mako continued to explore the cave, finding two different beddings. He surmised that there had been a guest not long before the cave had been abandoned for whatever reason. He continued to look around, but after finding nothing else of interest, he left, his curiosity satiated. As he left he didn't notice something scrawled into the wall of the cave, covered by shadows as the sun wasn't in position to reveal it. The writing was clean, as if made by an air cutter…and it read "Ferra's Home". The way it was written betrayed that the writer either valued the home, or the person who called it home.

A weavile slowly approached the throne, kneeling before the figure in it. "Master."

"Report." The figure spoke. "What did you find out?"

The ice/dark type looked up to his master, "From what I gathered from the locals around the area…it was a group of eight mon who entered and left the domain of specimen 245-067-254." The figure's eye rose as the scout continued, "According to the witnesses…it was a houndour, absol, 2 poochyena, a Pikachu, 2 floatzel, and a quilava."

The figure relaxed, "I see. Then they shall be disposed of quickly."

"Umm…my lord there's more. These individuals had some peculiar appearances."

The figure looked to the weavile, "Such as?"

"The houndour was of a shiny coloration." The figure was about to berate the cretin for the useless information, "the quilava was of black and grey coloring. And apparently he was seen to have purple fire." The figure stared at the scout, who continued, "the buizels and one of the poochyena possessed dragonite wings, and tentacles. And the absol was also observed to be in possession of a sword."

The figure sat motionless, thinking deeply, "Action has to be taken immediately."

The scout looked up, "My lord…why? They are a bunch of children. They merely got lucky when facing…"

"There was no luck!" the figure rose, "Those so called children…are a threat to my power!" the dark figure began to pace back and forth. "I had thought that that group of pokemon had stopped traveling about…I didn't expect their children to take up their cause!" the figure stopped, smirking, "But…they don't have the same experience. Tales aren't told of these eight…it will be so much easier to destroy them." A cackle rang out, "And I think I know just the way to destroy them. You!" the scout bowed, at attention and awaiting his orders, "You've got a message to deliver."

A scream filled the air, though that was already choked by smoke and the smell of blood. The source of the scream, a young woman, feel to the ground, blood coming from her mouth in raged coughs, as she clutched the wound in her chest. Within moments her eyes glazed over, and the deliverer of the blow stepped over her body.

A gallade, clad in armor that covered his arms, legs, and torso, along with a helmet with a missing visor, looked over the scene. A small human town had been the target, it sat next to a mine that was filled with resources that would assist the war effort of his lord. The gallade peered over the chaos and blood shedding, as more of the townsfolk were cut down, their homes set on fire. The glow of the flames made dancing shadows over the warrior's eyes, one red the other blue.

~Such is the fate of those who resist the master.~ he thought, as he moved on to destroy more of the humans. As he passed by the corpses of children, men, and women, he didn't blink, his eyes constantly searching for townsfolk.

"Same as alwayssss Garland?" a seviper entered his sights, a smirk on the snakes face.

"What do you want Lamie?" he replied.

She gave a hissing chuckling, "I was nearby, and I thought I'd see if you heard the newsssss yet."

Garland blinked, "News? What are you talking about?"

The seviper gave another hissing chuckle, holding her blade tail over her mouth, since she lacked any paws. The action also showed off that the edge of her tail was not the normal red, but blue like a shiny seviper's, though the rest of her body did not have the same altered coloration. "You haven't heard? Apparently our master is very unhappy about the fate of that sssssuicune hybrid."

Garland scoffed, "of course he is…such a valuable specimen was worth quite a lot to master's war effort. The loss of it will surely hinder progress."

She shook her head, grinning, "Oh no. It's not that it's dead, but rather who killed it. You are aware of that band of heroesssss that traveled around and defeated so many evil forces…yesss?"

Garland scoffed once more, "Who hasn't? Destroyers of Biogen. Slayers of Orochi. And banishers of the Brotherhood of Shadow. What about them? Have they appeared?"

She shook her head once more, "Oh no…they haven't appeared. But their children have. Master is worried that they'll be just as problematic as their parents though." She grinned evilly, "They are even reported to be headed straight for Koshi castle."

Garland looked to her, "And you've been just transferred there?"

She snickered, "Oh yesss. I have indeed."

The gallade rolled his eyes, "I suppose you'll be happy to be at your old home."

Lamie gave yet another hissing chuckle. Her parents had been loyal servants of Orochi, and she would have joined them in service after a few years, had it not been for the interference of that band of heroes. Luckily her parents managed to escape death, and they brought her along, while she was still an egg, with them to a new home. "Oh yes…and I'll be very happy to test my skills against those foolish young ones." Though the truth was she was only a bit older than the eldest in the group.

Garland turned and headed back to his task, "Just don't fail the master Lamie. He deserves absolute success…and should you fail to supply that…I'll kill you myself."

The seviper chuckled more, watching him go back to slaughtering the villagers. "So scary Garland." She rolled her eyes, "but an idiot like you wouldn't stand a chance against me." She slithered off towards Koshi castle, grinning to herself, "I especially hope to test my skills against one of his children. Orochi had given him so much praise, and his actions at the end were so amazing…I wonder if his pups will be just as strong." She snickered.

The dark figure sat upon his throne, rapping his fingers against the arm rest. His thoughts revolving around the new revelation. ~I can't believe all 8 of them had children…and strong children too it would seem.~ he smirked, ~But…that was just a lone hybrid. And it was of suicune, hardly a powerful legendary. There are plenty of other specimens…and far worse…are my genius plans.~ A dark evil laugh filled the chamber, ~I'll not be stopped…by anyone…especially a group of runts pretending to be heroes.~

The familiar human figure approached the throne than, "Master. I have prepared them as you wish. Specimen 249-289-065 and specimen 377-213-411 are ready to be dispatched."

The figure held up his hand, "Not just yet. I want to see how my plan plays out first." He smirked, "But don't worry…you're pets will have their chance soon enough."

Azur sighed happily, looking at the fire as night came on. "Well…we might have lost half a day, but I think it was worth it." The others all nodded, smiling, even Mako and Flint, though they kept their smiles small.

They munched on some dinner as they sat around the blaze, silence giving calm harmony to their evening. Taze looked up at the starry sky as he finished his meal, enjoying the sight of so many celestial bodies, their dazzling sparkle bringing beautiful life to the sky. Azur noticed him looking up, and followed suit, trying to see what caught his interest. Then she gasped, seeing a shooting star, making the others look to her, than to where she was looking. She closed her eyes and made a wish, ~I wish I had a handsome knight in shining armor by my side. Just like momma had.~

When she opened her eyes, she saw everyone staring at her, "It was a shooting star."

The others all chuckled, understanding her excitement now, "You're so lucky Azur!" Blair called out, chuckling, "Getting a wish all to yourself."

The houndour chuckled, "Not my fault the rest of you were too slow. Except for maybe Taze." She looked to the quilava, "You wish for anything?"

Taze blushed, though it was mercifully hidden by his fur, "Yeah, a little something. It…wasn't much." He was crimson in the face, thankful his fur and the darkness that wasn't repulsed by the fire hid it. ~Just that…you'd see me the way I see you.~ The others chuckled, and enjoyed the rest of their evening, before settling down to get some sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Besieged

Chapter 4

By Mecha-Mightyanador

Azur looked down the deep chasm in front of them. "Wow…that first step is a real dozy." She chuckled, stepping away from the steep drop. "Good thing we have a wide path along the cliff huh?" Which was a thankfully true statement, the path that wound around the cliff was indeed wide. Azur led the march, heading onto the path first, with the others filing in behind her, staying in a generally single file. Rein, Cryst, and Taze were a little intimidated by the path they had to walk. Flint and Azur were used to such paths though thanks to their adventure with their parents, while Mako, Blair, and Derra had wings that they could easily fly with.

Blair chuckled, poking Rein and Cryst, "You guys should calm down. Even if you do fall…we can easily grab you." She flexed her arms and tentacles, "We're super strong genetic perfection!" she broke into a giggle fit, as the siblings infront of her and Derra gave the buizel a look she was used to getting. The kind of look that said "What the heck?"

Mako rolled his eyes, casting his eyes over the edge to see what lay below. A river was visible, which gave life to the vast amount of green he could see, most of it being grass, but several trees were clear. The height of the cliff path made it impossible to tell if any pokemon called the area home, but Mako figured that there had to be a few mon down there; it did look like there would be plenty of water and food. He shrugged, turning his attention back to the path.

Rein had his chest puffed out, after Blair's comment he felt he had to show he wasn't scared of any old cliff. "Ahh…look at that view. It's wonderful ain't it?" he hummed to himself, seeing his sis was still a bit afraid of falling off the edge. "Don't worry Cryst; your bro is so great…why my greatness alone will keep this cliff intact." The poochyena rolled her eyes, chuckling lightly. "That's right, be cheerful." Rein gave his chest a pound, trying to look more impressive, though he knew that was impossible.

Blair giggled, and slapped the butt of the Pikachu with a tentacle, "Cool it Rein. Otherwise that stuff ego of yours will make the whole cliff give way." The Pikachu grumbled, rubbing his rump, looking to Blair with an annoyed expression. She just giggled, waving at him, "Yes hello. I see you too." The chu sighed, walking onward, hearing the buizel gal giggle it up.

Flint looked back at the others, making sure that none of them were too freaked out by the height. While Rein and Cryst looked a little intimidated, it wasn't anything terrifying, and Taze just kept his eyes on the path, occasionally looking up the cliff face. Flint turned back forward, keeping his eyes ahead of Azur to see if anything could be waiting, but there didn't seem to be anything dangerous, which was a relief to the absol. Suddenly he felt a weird sensation, his eyes going off to the horizon. "A storms coming." He narrowed his eyes, trying to discern if there were any harbingers of the storm, but he couldn't see anything, "A big storm is coming."

The others looked off into the distance, Rein raising his voice, "You sure Flint?"

The absol nodded, "I'm positive."

Though they couldn't see anything, they knew that absols had an uncanny knack for predicting disasters, so they picked up the pace, trying to get off of the cliff path before they were hit by the storm that Flint had predicted.

Their efforts weren't good enough however, as rain began to fall, a mass of dark clouds surging in as if from nowhere. And with them still so far from the end of the path, they knew they were in for a terrible trek. Than Azur's eyes caught something, "Hey guys! There's a cave up ahead!" Taze quickly rushed past the others, not wanting to stay out in the water longer than needed, practically diving into the opening. The others came in soon after, Flint looking around the entrance. "Hmm…looks like no one's in here." He went outside, returning with some branches on other materials for a fire.

After Taze and Azur used some heat to get rid of the moisture on the materials, the houndour used a little flame to make a fire to warm the others up and dry them off. The group gathered around the flame, after shaking off the water away from it, sitting down to warm up. Derra shivered lightly, not getting warmed up quick enough by the fire, Blair in a similar situation, though she felt the cold a bit less than her sister. Mako looked to his sisters, sighing a little. His tentacles reached out and pulled the two to his body, letting them share body heat. The sisters grabbed onto their brother, smiling lightly.

Rein and Cryst took to the idea quickly, lying down next to one another, letting the fire warm them both up as their bodies shared heat. Azur also took to the action with Flint, the absol smoothing his fur out as best he could, a trait he picked up from his mother. The houndour giggled, rolling her eyes as she decided to help her bro. "You know you aren't meeting any cute girls anytime soon. You don't need to try and make yourself look so nice."

Flint just kept smoothing his fur, "I like having smooth, well kept fur." He looked to his sister, "And I don't like looking like some mutt."

Azur smirked, trying to look angry, "Well that's hardly any way to treat your sister."

Flint chuckled lightly, "Sister? Really? I thought you were a guy given how you look right now." The houndour tackled her brother, laughing happily.

Rein chuckled, "It's just like thunderstorms back home ain't it?"

Blair giggled, nodding, "Yeah! All warm and cozy and fun." She giggled on, "Only 1 things missing." She looked to her brother, "Maky poo!"

Mako's eyes shot open, than glared at Blair, "Not funny." He flicked her nose, making her laugh from it. "I'll hold your mouth shut if you call me that again." The buizel girl just laughed more, the other joining in the chorus.

Except for Taze, who sat silently near the fire. He occasionally looked up to the others, seeing them in their sibling groups. And all the while he was alone, no brother or sister nearby to help him keep warm, but it wasn't that bad, he was a fire type after all. The quilava was used to it though, he alone was a miracle, so having a sibling was asking a bit much. Still…he wished he could have something like the others did…they didn't realize just how lucky they all were. The quilava curled up, and attempted to fall asleep, since they'd be here till the storm cleared most likely.

Taze's eyes opened when he felt someone lay down beside him. Looking to his left he saw Azur smiling at him, "Hey Taze. You looked pretty lonely here, so I came to give you company." The quilava blushed, gulping out a thank you before hiding his face, which just made the houndour giggle.

Flint smiled, watching his sis take credit for his idea. The absol was the one who noticed that Taze was looking down over his solitary state, and it hadn't taken long for Flint to realize that Taze enjoyed one of the groups company more than any of the others. In fact, Flint was sure everyone was aware of Taze's feelings…short of the one who he had those feelings for.

Cryst looked outside, examining the weather she could see, before turning back, "I think the storm will be gone by tomorrow morning." She put a few thoughts through her head before nodding, "Yeah. It's just a flash storm. This will put us behind schedule by a bit…along with our stop at the lake…we'll be getting to Koshi a day later than I originally predicted."

Rein chuckled, "You're such a nerd. We don't care when we get there." He puffed his chest up, "When you're a great as me…the destination doesn't matter, since it'll always be the same awesome me getting there…it's the awesome journey that I make that's fun." The chu soon felt his head flicked, Blair giggling it up.

Derra shook her head, giggling herself, before giving a happy sigh, "Have you guys ever thought about your perfect mate?" She asked suddenly, a smile still on her face, "I mean…our parents all met while traveling and since we're going around ourselves…well…we might meet our right kind of guy…or gal." she giggled, "I want a guy who's cheerful and fun loving. Someone I can swim around with…or fly around with. Oh! Maybe both!" she broke into more giggles.

Blair smiled, "oh me next! Me next! I want a real adventuress guy…someone who's willing to jump head first into anything!" she looked up, thinking a bit, "I also want him to be a real good kisser!" The buizel looked to her buizel brother. "What about you Mako?" He scoffed, looking away, "Aw come on Mako! Tell us!" Derra nodded, pressing for an answer with her sis.

Mako grumbled, "I want…someone…kind…nice…soft spoken…" he was blushing lightly under his fur, "Maybe a girl with a little power to her punch."

Cryst was blushing, thinking of her own ideal mate, "Umm…she'd have to be smart. Uh…she'd also have to be a gentle person…and…really that's all I want in my girl. Oh…I guess she'd have to be a lesbian too." Cryst chuckled.

Rein quickly jumped on his turn, "My girl would have to be as perfect as me. She'd need to be just as smart, strong, fast, and just plain amazingly awesome." The chu grinned, before getting another whack from Blair, making him grumble.

Azur grinned, "My guy would have to be strong, courageous, and compassionate." She gave a nod, "I also want him to be willing to come to my rescue if I ever got in trouble. A knight to save his beautiful damsel." She giggled, "Just like mom and dad." The houndour nudged Taze, "What about you?"

Taze blushed, looking away, "well…my perfect girl is courageous…caring…beautiful." The others all snickered, even Mako got a chuckled from Taze's position. "She's real sweet and…" he covered his face, "I'm done."

Azur giggled, rolling her eyes, "Okay. What about you Flint?"

The absol looked into the fire, thinking long and hard, "I…I don't know what an ideal mate would be for me." He closed his eyes, shrugging, "I never put much thought into it I guess." He looked into the flames, "I guess I'll know who my perfect girl is…when I see her." He shrugged again.

Azur looked to her brother, shaking her head, "If you say so." She wasn't sure if he was telling the whole truth, but she was willing to leave things at their current state. She than yawned out, "Well…since we're stuck here till tomorrow morning, I'm going to bed." She laid her head down, the closeness to Taze making the quilava blush, and fell asleep. The others quickly followed her lead, laying down and drifting into slumber.

The group exited the cave they had taken refuge in, Cryst's prediction proving correct as the storm was gone and the sun shined down upon their path. Azur smiled, "Come on guys. Let's get moving, we gotta make up for lost time." The others filed behind her, following the houndour down the path. As they went they saw the cliff losing height, much to the delight of some of the mon.

Azur smiled, "Well…we've gotten past this hurdle." She pointed to the end of the cliff and a nice level ground. "Ha…this trip will be easy as pie. We'd better start thinking of where we're going to go after getting to Koshi."

"Koshi castle?" a voice spoke out, not belonging to any of the group. The others looked around, Flint and Mako ready for a fight, trying to identify the source of the voice, "I'm up here." They all quickly looked up the cliff face. Standing on a ledge, a precarious perch to be sure, was a luxio. He looked like a standard luxio too, except for a strange mark upon his head, which was white and seemed to resemble a skull.

The luxio smiled, "You guys are going to Koshi castle? Can I tag along? I was headed there myself, heard that something real big went down there." He leapt down to a lower ledge, "Oh…but me and my manners." He chuckled, "Hi there. My name's Leonel. Pleased to meet you…miss?" he looked to Azur.

The houndour was blushing, smiling sheepishly. "Umm…I'm Azur."

Leonel bowed, "That's a pretty lovely name." he chuckled, looking to the others as they gathered around the houndour. "And who are the rest of you?" he asked politely. One by one they introduced themselves, short of Taze. "Umm…and what's your name my quilava friend?"

Taze tried to keep himself from glaring, "It's Taze."

Leonel nodded, "Got it." He chuckled, "It's nice to meet you Taze. Never thought I'd see such a cool looking quilava." Taze just gruffed, he didn't like Leonel…but it was pretty obvious to all that Azur did.


	5. Chapter 5

Besieged

Chapter 5

By Mecha-mightyanador

The young luxio smiled, "So you lot are heading to Koshi castle huh? May I ask what brings you that way? Perhaps you too wish to see the place of the legendary battle where the serpent demon Orochi was struck down.?"

Azur giggled, "Kinda like that. We have a bit of a personal connection to that battle."

Leonel tilted his head, "Oh? Were your parents part of the battle?" he smiled, "Astounding." he looked over Taze, "Wait...I do believe I have heard of a typhlosion who is very similar to you Taze..." he blinked, "Wait...you don't mean you are all the offspring of those legendary heroes!"

Azur nodded, smiling, "Yep. We most certainly are. Me and my brother Flint even fought with our parents against the Brotherhood of Shadow." she puffed her chest out, "In fact...me and him were the ones who delivered the final blow to the Brotherhood's leader."

Leonel laughed, "Astounding! This is truly a once in a lifetime chance. I never dreamed of meeting anyone who actually had a connection to such legends." He grinned, "Oh I simply must accompany you fellows now. It seems to me like you are the leader Azur...so might I humbly inquire if I would be welcome."

Azur giggled, blushing lightly, "Oh I have no issue with it."

He grinned, "Wonderful. And the rest of you?"

Flint looked the electric type over, before shrugging, "I see no issue." Mako gave a quiet shrug, his opinion much like Flint's.

Blair giggled, "He's funny. I like the way he talks. We gotta let him tag along. He'll be super fun."

Derra nodded, "You're very polite and nice Leonel. It'd be nice to have someone to balance out Mako's attitude." She giggled at the glare her buizel brother gave her.

Rein gave a nod, "I...as the best of the best in the group...declare that you are more than welcome." Blair quickly snapped a tentacle to his rump, making him yelp and glare.

Cryst looked to Taze, who's spirits had sagged during the whole conversation. "Umm...well...I guess there's no...harm...maybe..."

Leonel nodded, grinning before looking to Taze, "And what about you Taze, my fine friend."

The quilava sighed, "Not like my opinion matters much given that even if I said no...I'm outvoted. But sure...tag along." He let his head hang. "So...shall we get moving than? We do have to make up for lost time."

Azur nodded, "Right. Come on Leonel."

He grinned, "Astounding." he began walking alongside the shiny houndour, the others following behind, Taze bringing up the rear with a downcast head. "So Azur...do you have any interesting stories to tell? Oh...silly me...you obviously must given you were apart of your parents' adventures."

The houndour giggled, "Oh the story isn't that impressive really." she smiled, "But...if you really want to hear...Okay it all started when our mom and dad and our aunts and uncles all took us to a beach..." She began to recount the adventure she and Flint had had, her brother occasionally supplying a few details she couldn't remember. All through the tale Leonel listened intently, hanging on every word that came from Azur's lips. And as he listened Taze followed along, not in the least bit happy about how things had turned out, Azur was obviously quite taken with Leonel...meaning she wasn't interested in him.

And there was something else...something that just itched at the back of Taze's mind. There was just something about the luxio that the quilava didn't like. He couldn't put his paw on it...but he just really didn't like or trust Leonel...at all. But it was obvious his opinion didn't matter...and...Azur would hate him if he mentioned his feelings on the matter. It was probably nothing anyway, just jealousy poisoning his opinion...though he didn't mind that in the least.

The houndour kept tell the story until most of the day had passed, the sun starting to sink upon the horizon. They decided to keep moving for a little longer before picking a spot to step and rest. Azur looked to Leonel, "I've talked long enough...Leonel how about telling us a little bit about yourself. Why are you traveling to Koshi castle?"

He shrugged, "I just really wanted to see it. It's such a legendary place after all. And it's not like I have anywhere else to be."

Derra tilted her head, "Don't you have a home?"

He shook his head, "Nope...this little mark here" he pointed to the skull shaped patch of white fur, "made me real unpopular where I lived. After so much less than stellar treatment, I decided to go off on my own and live a life superior to that reprehensible area." He smiled, "And look at where life led me. I dare say I made quite the correct choice with my life."

Azur giggled, blushing lightly, "Oh I say we got pretty lucky ourselves. Its going to be real fun having you around Leonel. And since you don't have anywhere to go...you'd be more than welcome to stay with us long after Koshi castle."

He grinned, "Astounding. I'd be very grateful for such an opportunity. Thank you profusely my fair maiden." he gave a quick bow. "Today has truly been very fortunate to me. And I'm sure that the future will be just as beneficial, if not more so." he chuckled, looking back, "May I ask something of you and your siblings Derra?" the winged poochyena nodded, so he quickly asked, "Are you 3 offspring of one of Orochi's servants?"

Derra nodded, "Yeah...our dad did serve Orochi at the time."

Mako scoffed, "But he left when it was obvious the walking wallet was doomed. He met our mom shortly after. Blah blah blah, romantic story of how evil turns good, joins old foes and becomes a dear friend and family." He looked to Leonel, "That a good enough answer for you?"

The luxio chuckled, smiling uneasily, "I didn't mean to offend. I had heard that the mightyena called Death had survived the conflict and was even seen fighting along side the heroes." he waved a paw to ease any anger in the buizel, "I simply wanted to know if the rumors were in fact true."

Blair giggled, "Don't mind Mako...he's all bark. He'd never hurt a fly. He's a big cuddly wuddly teddiursa." Mako glared at his sister, "Don't act so mad...I can see your blush big bwodda." Mako growled, struggling against the urge to strangle.

Leonel chuckled, "Thanks Blair but I think I'll avoid incurring the wrath of your brother." He smiled, turning back to look at Azur, "Azur can I ask you a question?"

She smiled, a faint blush on her face, "Oh please ask away Leonel."

"I'm curious...what exactly prompted you all to leave your home? I mean...why leave a home that I'm sure was a lot more loving than my own." he tilted his head, very curious.

Azur smiled, giggling, "Oh that...well...hearing so much about their adventures...we all wanted to go out and prove we were every bit as good as our parents. We even had our first major conflict not to long ago." he tilted his head, so she explained, "We found this really weird thing...a little relic left over by Biogen. He was real ugly...but real strong. But we showed that loser who he was messing with didn't we guys."

Cryst cleared her throat, "Umm...technically it was Taze who really won that fight for us. And Flint too of course."

Azur blushed, rubbing the back of her head, "Okay yeah...it was really thanks to those two...but we all did put up a great fight." the others nodded in agreement. "It was real cool kicking his butt."

Leonel chuckled, "Well it sounds exciting, meaning it must have been very much so. I only wish I could have been there myself." he grinned, "Oh you don't have to worry about me by the way. I can do fisticuffs with the best of them."

Azur blinked, tilting her head, "what-icuffs?"

Cryst quickly answered, "It basically means fighting. Its a gentleman term for it. Aunt Sky told me about it...she only knew it because she heard it on one of the human televisions." she thought about it, "It is a really old word that fell out of popular use."

Leonel laughed, "I have been told my way of speaking is rather dated. More often than naught I've been told I act like an old mon from the days of knights and kings. But I have also been told my speaking was very old gentlemen like." he looked off in the distance, seeing the sun starting to creep down and out of sight, "We should find a place to retire for the evening." The others all nodded and set up a small camp, sitting around the fire and preparing to rest. Taze watched unhappily as Azur was sitting close to Leonel, chatting up with him. The quilava sighed, curling up and trying to fall asleep quickly.

The next morning the group had arisen bright and early, and after a quick breakfast, brought to them by the curtsy of Leonel, they moved off. The group took the same shape as yesterday, Leonel and Azur in front, chatting happily, while Taze dragged behind, head hung low. Flint occasionally looked back to make sure they didn't lose him, and while he did feel sorry for his friend...what could he do? Demand his sister ignore the male she obviously had a crush on? Taze was going to have to up his efforts if he wanted to capture the houndour's attention, and he couldn't rely others to do all the work for him.

Than Flint stopped dead in his tracks, head quickly surveying the area. The others abruptly stopped, looking to him, short of Leonel who was also looking about. The luxio smirked, "We have company."

From out of the nearby trees came several treecko and grovyle, all looking ready for a fight. One grovyle, who was probably just a little bit older than Flint and Azur smirked, "Well well well...look't wha we got 'ere. A bunch o little kiddies." he cackled, "You pups 'ave 'ad a spot o bad luck catching my eye."

Flint glared, "What do you want?"

"My oh my...talkin pretty tough fo' a little runt." he smirked, "I 'ave taken a liking ta that thar sword on yo back...and that pretty little necklace she be 'aving." his cackled maliciously, "You better be smart and 'and it on over. Lest we be forced ta...acquire it in a mo'...unpleasant fashion."

Leonel was impressed, "Who, if you would be so kind as to indulge my curiosity, are you?"

"Well I'll do ya'lls a fava and answer. I be Dearth, and I be the son o' da infamous bandit Famine." he spoke it with a grin, proud of his villainous heritage.

Several ears perked at that news, and Flint just smirked, "Famine huh? Well...we have issue than Dearth." he stepped forward, the others glaring down the band of rogues. "You see...my dad buried yours in pit of stalagmites. I only think it's fitting that I bury you."

Dearth glared daggers, "Ya...ya'll be the son o' that bastard hound! O' boy...you shouldn't outta said that. Now we gonna have to kill you and yo' little friends! Gut dem son o' bitches!" The other grass types leaped forward at the group, Dearth himself going straight for Flint. The others each had their own opponent to deal, with the exception of Leonel, who was facing 2 grovyle. Azur, Mako, and Taze were each facing grovyles, the others had opponents in the treeckos.

Derra growled, wings spread and tentacle waving threateningly, the shiny poochyena trying to force her opponent to back down without combat. She wasn't going to get away from fighting so easily, the treecko pushing forward, ready to pound her with his tail. The dark type caught the attack with her tentacles, grabbing the tail firmly before yanking him by it and smashing him into the ground. She than quickly tossed him away and into a tree, watching to see if he'd be smart and stay down. He did no such thing of course, and used a quick attack, dashing left and right before slamming his fist into her face. Derra stumbled a few steps, but quickly spun on her paws, smashing a tentacle into the side of the grass type's face. He was sent tumbling across the ground before slowly sliding to a stop, groaning as he rose back onto his feet. Derra sighed, shaking her head at his refusal to admit defeat.

Standing to face her again, the treecko charged forward, using a quick attack/pound combo. The attack struck, sending the pooch skidding across the ground a bit, giving him the confidence to press the attack. The action was ill advised though, Derra growling in frustration as he approached with another quick attack. Just before he managed to land the attack, her tentacles grabbed his arm, yanking him up over the ground. As he struggled and attempted to break free of her grip, she opened her mouth, building energy for a shadow ball. When the attack was ready she let him go, and a split second afterwords she launched the attack, sending him several feet into the air before he crashed into a tree. The treecko fell to the ground unconscious, groaning lightly in pain. Derra sighed, than smiled as she turned to see if the others needed help.

Rein smirked, scratching at his ear as he eyed his opponent, not impressed by the treecko. It didn't matter if the grass type was resilient to electric attacks, Rein had learned plenty of other tricks for fighting opponent. The treecko was quite confident in his type advantage though, snickering as he cracked his knuckles. The grass type moved first, coming in with a quick attack upon Rein's right, but the black pawed chu blocked the strike, smirking at his opponents stunned expression. With amazing speed and dexterity he spun around the grass type, and sent a mega punch to the back of his skull. The treecko was sent tumbling forward, clutching his head and cursing. Rising back to his feet he turned to face the chu, but saw empty space. Out from the left Rein came in and slammed him with another punch, sending the treecko fumbling across the ground.

Slamming a fist to the ground the treecko got up, and charged with a quick attack followed by a pound, striking his tail against Rein's iron tail. The pikachu smirked, and spun around, his iron tail smashing into the treecko and sending him rolling across the ground. Rein smirked, picking at his ear as he watched his opponent stand up, albeit on weary legs this time. He didn't understand why the fellow insisted on keeping up the fight, it wasn't like he was a challenge...especially when compared to the Biogen monster they had fought before. As the treecko glared, Rein shook his head, quickly closing the distance and smashing the grass types face in with one more punch. The treecko finally stayed down, out cold from the last blow, Rein dusting off his paws with a grin.

Blair giggled, hoping from one foot to another, fist moving in a boxer like fashion. Her opponent smirked, thinking he had an easy prey in the strange acting buizel. Blair was still going, before smirking, using an aqua jet and zooming up and over the treecko, stopping it and coming down with a sonic boom. The grass type was blasted back, skidding across the ground, glaring at her before using an absorb attack. Blair ground her teeth, taking the attack before unleashing another sonic boom which the treecko dodged, but it opened him up to the air cutter her tentacle unleashed. The strike hit home, sending the grass type reeling from the super effective strike, catching him completely off guard. Blair grinned, flicking her tentacles, going back to her boxer like motions, giggling, "Come on...I'll knock your block off...I'll...I'll...what did papa say that one guy did..." she paused to think, before opening her eyes wide, "oh yeah...I'll bite off your ear!" she paused again, "Eeeewww!"

The treecko glared, unwilling to accept that someone so air headed was actually winning. He rushed forward with a quick attack, striking her stomach before leaping into the air and spinning to unleash a pound. His tail slammed into her tentacles, Blair smirked, "Not bad...I can pound too." pushing his attack back she quickly followed the motion with a double pound from both her tentacles, slamming the grass type into the ground. "What did auntie Sky say...oh yeah! FORE!" she cracked her tentacles around for another slam, hitting the treecko in the face and sending him soaring through the sky until he crashed into the brush several feet away. She grinned, "Yay! Goal!" she paused, "or was it score...no...oh yeah." she held up two digits, smiling big, "Touchdown!"

Cryst quietly eyed her opponent, who glared at her in response. She was sure he'd not be much of an issue, he didn't have much weight to toss around, and given some of her observations, he wasn't exceptionally fast or reflexive. Overall he'd be easy to defeat, she just hoped he'd realize he was outmatched before she'd have to really hurt him. Suddenly the treecko took off with a quick attack, coming in on her right. He slammed his fist into her cheek, knocking her back a bit, but she quickly countered with a shadow ball, tending him skidding away when the attack connected with his chest. He grunted as he looked back up, glaring daggers as he rushed forward with a slam attack, the blow striking nothing but air and dirt. The poochyena had lept to the side and quickly jumped forward, using a bite attack, teeth sinking into his arm. He let out a yell of pain, which grew when he felt himself tossed shortly after, Cryst using the attack to grab him for a throw.

The grass type groaned, rising back to his feet, holding at his injured arm as he looked at his opponent, wincing lightly. Cryst stood firm, waiting for him to move, hopefully it would be a tactical withdraw and not a charge for...she sighed, watching him use another quick attack. She ducked down, barely managing to avoid his slam attack, using the opening he left to blast him in the gut with another shadow ball. He was knocked off his feet, wind knocked clear out of his lungs as he hit the dirt. Gasping for breath he rolled onto all fours, groaning lightly in pain. He looked back at Cryst and cursed, before getting up and running away, much to the dark types joy. With a happy sigh she turned to see how her friends were doing.

Mako glared, growling out as he stared down his grovyle foe, who was smirking, confident thanks to the type advantage. The buizel knew that the type difference meant dick though...besides, even if the grovyle had grass attacks, Mako had flying attacks thanks that he could use. The grovyle moved in, a leaf blade attack going into effect, taking a slash at Mako, who dodged swiftly and quickly struck with an air cutter. The strike sent the grass type reeling back, eyes shut tight in pain as he was knocked straight into a tree. Mako smirked, "Run away now, or I'll hit you so hard you won't know who you are." The grass type glared, slamming his fist against the tree. Running up the trunk, the grovyle pushed himself off with his powerful legs, coming down on Mako with a double leaf blade. The attack hit the dirt, Mako leaping back but he was struck a pursuit almost immediately after the dodge.

The grovyle smirked, following up with a fury cutter at the buizel's head. Mako growled, using his tentacle to push away the grass type's arms, before he started forming something in his paw...a shadow ball quickly found its way into the gut of the grovyle, knocking him back. Before he even had a chance to recover a pair of air cutters slammed into him, both hitting with full force sending him into a tree. The impact made loud crack as splinters flew, the grovyle crumpling to the ground, unconscious and very lucky to be alive. Mako spat, smirking, "Weak little pile of shit. Didn't have a chance in hell against me!"

Taze's opponent was fairly concerned, as he was up against a fire using foe, so the grass type had to be careful. Taze just stared at his foe, "You can leave you know. I don't want to hurt you." The grovyle seemed to be thinking about the proposition, but he looked to Dearth, before glaring down the fire type. "Okay...I'll try not to hurt you to bad." Taze felt sorry that his foe didn't know that Dearth was doomed...especially if Flint repeated his actions with the Biogen creature. The grass type was using a quick attack, hoping to strike at Taze's rear flank, but the quilava's eyes began to glow...than the grovyle was stopped dead, blinking. "I know psychic moves too...I'm very unique if you couldn't tell from looking." The grass mon found himself flung into a large nearby rock, wind pushed out of his lungs, shock taking a firm hold. Taze just turned around and unleashed a psybeam, the attack striking just to the right of the grass mon's head, destroying the rock.

Taze cleared his throat, "Now...look...Dearth there is very much an unfortunate soul. I really don't want to hurt you much. And Dearth will not be getting a chance to do that either so..." The grovyle took the hint and quickly made a break for it, much to Taze's relief. It was short lived though, as another grovyle came at his back, getting sent air born by a psychic blast. Taze turned and glared at Leonel, who waved, "my deep apologies Taze! I couldn't hold him here." The quilava grumbled, before turning and launching a flamethrower at the charging grass type. Set alight by the attack the unfortunate mon was forced to run for water to put himself out. Taze shook his head, glaring at Leonel some more for his ineptitude.

Leonel quickly dodged left, than right as the two grovyle pressed the attack. Leaf blades and fury cutters aplenty, and the luxio was easily dodging the attacks. He was enjoying the fight truth be told, finding his opponents woefully underpowered for the fight. But with that said, they didn't lack enthusiasm, as even though they weren't landing a hit they were still coming. But he couldn't stand by and just let them keep attacking, so after one more dodge he struck out with a crunch at a leg, leaping off of the bitten grovyle and hitting his friend with an iron tail. The two glared at him, the iron tailed one noticing that one of his fellows had fled. It quickly charged for Taze, Leonel frowning, "How unacceptable, our duel is not yet done." The other grovyle rushed him. Knocking the foe away with another iron tail Leonel turned to see Taze glaring.

"My deep apologies Taze! I couldn't hold him here." Leonel than quickly went back to his other opponent, using a crunch on his arm, swinging around to smash another iron tail against the grovyles head. The grass type stumbled forward, dazed from the attack before his back was struck by a charged up spark. While strong against electric attacks, the charge up made it hurt all the same, and it was worse by the paralysis that followed. Leonel crunched onto the grass types legs before tossing out of the way, using and iron tail to make sure he was far away. The luxio nodded, smiling before seeing if any of the others needed help.

Azur laughed, "Come on...are you afraid of a little girl like me?" She laughed, watching as the grovyle she faced was keeping a sizable distance. The laughter was making him glare and grind his teeth, flexing his fist, teeth grinding. She showed her side to him, "Do I need to paint a big target for you? Come on! Attack me!" That was the straw that broke the back, the grass type threw all caution to the wind and rushed, leaf blade ready to slash the houndour. She smirked, letting him near before flipping over him, landing behind him and unleashing a smog attack on the turning mon. The poison gas choked the grovyle who quickly ran out of it for breathing air, but the damage was done and the poison was coursing through his veins. To make it worse, immediately after leaving he was hit by a flamethrower, making his scream out in pain.

Azur shook her head, "Bad move there buddy. Tsk tsk tsk." She giggled. As he got up she sighed, "You're only going to get hurt more." She rolled her eyes, watching him charge again. She let loose another smog attack, the grass type moving right into it and he immediately began hacking. Azur shook her head, using ember, igniting the ball of gas and the poor sap inside it. The grovyle screamed rolling about on the ground, luckily managing to put himself out before burning to death. Azur shook her head, "Told ya." She kicked some dirt on him, looking towards her brother to see how he was fairing."

Flint was watching, face showing indifference as Dearth attacked without relent. Every strike hit nothing but air and ground, the absol easily managing to dodge every blow the grovyle attempted to land. Dearth was glaring, growling out in rage as he kept trying, but his movements were so slow to Flint's eyes, it was as if he was moving in slow motion. But after so long Flint grew tired of Dearth's face, and unleashed an ice beam, knocking the grass type back. Flint quickly followed the attack up with a slash across Dearth's flank, making the grovyle yell out in pain. The absol turned and watched for Dearth's next movements as wind kicked up around him. Dearth turned and glared, "Ya'll be asking fo' it!" He unleashed a bullet seed barrage, Flint just scowled as he met the attack with a razor wind, slicing through the seeds and cutting deeply into Dearth's left shoulder.

The grovyle fell to the ground, clutching his wound, "I don understand it...'ow could I 'ave been beaten by a bunch o' kids?"

Flint glared, "How? I tell you how...you father was a pathetic retch. You're a pathetic retch. Your entire life, short as it was, was filled with you trying to be something you aren't...strong." Flint spat, "And when you die...history will forget you. You'll fade from memory...and all the while rot in hell like scum like you deserves."

Dearth glared, snarling, "Wha' you know about life boy!? Wha' you know about being some'ing!? Yo' always be in yo' daddy's shadow! Yo' never gonna leave it! Bunch of runts like yo'...yo' fade fo' sure!" he prepared a leaf blade, and rushed straight for Flint, "And I'll help that along!" Flint grabbed his blade and rushed forward, the two slashing at one another.

When they stopped, Flint sheathed his blade. Dearth's arm leaves were sliced, and the grovyle gurgled up blood before his head fell off. Flint spat, "If I vanish in time...lost within the annuals of history...so be it. I will at least die knowing I did the world a favor and shut you up."

The others had all managed to turn around just in time to see the final blow delivered. And like before, Taze, Mako, Cryst, Blair, Rein, and Derra stared at the corpse. Leonel shook his head, going up to Azur, "My fair damsel...are you alright."

The houndour nodded, "Yeah...I'm fine." she looked to her brother, worried.

After their fight with Dearth, and the recovering from the end result of the fight, the group continued on their path. Silence had settled over the collection of mon, and while most dealt with the death of Dearth...a few others went more towards individuals. Taze was still unhappy about the Leonel situation. Azur was worried about her brother.

Cryst eventually broke the suffocation quiet though, quietly speaking out, "If I'm right...we should be able to see Koshi castle when we get over that hill."

Azur looked back, smiling, "Really?" she was grateful for the good news, "Great! Hey Flint, bet I can beat you up there."

The absol smirked, "Dream on!" he took off, Azur running after him, though it was obvious he was going to win. As he pulled ahead, she laughed, and the happy mood drifted down to the others who were all starting to smile. Than Flint made it to the top...stopping dead in his tracks. "Guys! Get up here!"

The others could feel the dread in his words, and they quickly bolted up the hill side, as Azur joined her brother, gasping out, "What...what's going on?" The others quickly filled up around them, staring in utter shock at the scene laid out before them.

A black and twisted fortification was standing, guards visibly patrolling along the ramparts. Several patrols were walking around the castle, traversing the land that was blackened with red fiery cracks all over it. Atop the castle were flags that shone out a dark blue, with the image of a falcon, wings spread and soaring up into the heavens, one of its talons firmly grasping the world. The group stared on...at the fully rebuilt and heavily guarded Koshi Castle.


	6. Chapter 6

Besieged

Chapter 6

By Mecha-mightyanador

Azur bit her lip, surveying the area before her, watching as the castle bustled with life. Flint was also surveying everything, glaring across the landscape at the soldiers who had now taken residence in the fortification. Leonel was the first to speak, "Who do you suppose has claimed this vile and tainted monument to evil?"

Azur shook her head, "I have no idea. Maybe...they aren't evil?"

Flint shook his head, "No...they obviously don't want people around...look at the number of patrols and guards. Something is going on." His body was tense, ready to move on a moment's notice. "Who are these people?"

Cryst shook her head, "We need to go down there and snoop around to find that out." she looked to the others, "Are you guys...sure you want to do that."

Flint nodded, "We have to check this out. If these guys are up to something evil...than we have to stop them."

Azur nodded, "Flint's right. This is why we set out in the first place."

Leonel looked around, "Well...I guess I'll offer my assistance to this endeavor. I cannot in good conscience let you fight such a noble cause alone. My teeth and claws are at your full disposal."

Mako scoffed, "These guys don't look so tough, or so smart. We'll run circles around them." his two sisters both nodded in agreement. The others did much the same, eyes set on seeing an end to this evil force before it grew too powerful and became a real threat.

Flint gave a quick nod, "Alright than...but we shouldn't just go charging in. Let's sneak around first and try and gather some information. Than we can make a move and try to lay Koshi Castle to waste." Flint stared straight at the castle, before moving into the brush, "Come on, we'll tail one of the patrols and see if the soldiers say anything." The others nodded and followed the absol, going for one of the most outer perimeter patrol squads.

The patrol soldiers were clad in chain mail, with the leader of the unit being the only one with a helm. The lead man also wore a tabard that was similar to the flag that waved above Koshi castle, blue with the depiction of a falcon. The other 3 soldiers possessed sashes, also blue with the depiction of the falcon. Blue was obvious the color of choice for this faction, even their armor seemed to have a blue tint to it. In their hands were polearms, the leader wielded a glaive, 2 of the regular soldiers held spears, and the other soldier was using a bardiche.

Their heavy footsteps helped to make the task of stealthily following them easier, as they trudged through the forest. Flint and the others were low to the ground, using all the cover they could get to stay out of sight as they followed behind, listening for any conversation that would reveal more about this mysterious army. "Why does there need to be so many patrols?"

The leader looked back towards the men, "Because that's what the lord ordered. You'd do well not to question it."

The soldier nodded, "I know it was ordered...but why...we could do so much better if we knew what we were looking out for."

Another soldier agreed, "He's right. I mean...who on earth could possibly give pause to the great Noboru Taka Empire? We've got multiple bases and forts...who could give us reason to worry?" the soldier looked about. "It isn't them is it? Those heroes who stopped Orochi and Kage?"

The leader barked for silence, "If it was important for you to know, you'd have been told! Now shut up and keep your eyes peeled for anything strange." The soldiers nodded, letting the issue go as they marched forward. "Hurry up; Lamie will have our hides if we take too long."

The group stopped their tailing, hearing more than enough. Flint turned to the others, "It looks like these guys are a lot bigger than we thought. Koshi is just the tip of the iceberg." he frowned thinking, "We have to find other places to hit."

Cryst nodded, "From the looks of this place it isn't a major storage site...it's meant solely for military personnel." she ran ideas through her mind, "What we need to do is find a place that supplies food...funds...or weapons to these guys. Hit them there...and we can really do some serious damage."

Flint nodded, as Leonel added to the idea, "We should also eliminate their chain of command. Lamie is definitely a high ranked individual in this army. Without good leaders, These...Noboru fellows will most assuredly fall with minimal complications."

Flint gave another nod, "Right."

Taze shook his head, "I don't know...this place is pretty heavily guarded, and they are obviously expecting an attack. We shouldn't try and stir up this beedrill nest if we can avoid it."

Flint looked to the quilava, "We don't know where else to go Taze. We have to get in there and try and find the locations of other bases." he looked to the castle, "So while we're in there...why not strike at that Lamie character."

Taze sighed, "I guess I understand, but...just rushing in there?"

Cryst shook her head, "We don't need to rush in. I know the perfect means of..."

"Who's that over there!?"

"They are not of our forces! Sound the alarm!"

The group turned to face the patrol that had spotted them. One member had already sent up a flare, alerting others to their position, and ensuring they would come along quickly, already another nearby patrol was rushing into sight. Flint cursed, "We have no choice. We have to fight now." he drew his blade and glared at the oncoming soldiers, the others taking battle ready stances. The patrol soldiers charged in, this group with 3 spear men all of whom were aiming to impale one of the group.

The 3 were taken off guard when the 3 tentacled siblings grabbed their weapons, and using their own moment against them, flipped the soldiers over and onto the ground. What came next shocked the group, short of Flint who was engaging the last member of the patrol, as Mako took the spear and slammed it through the chest of the soldier he had flipped. Derra just stared at him, mouth agape, "Mako..." He grabbed the two spears his sisters had and finished off the other two soldiers. "These guys aren't going to settle for anything less than killing us. We can't hold back on them, they're no different from the guys our parents fought."

Leonel sighed, "I'm afraid that Mako makes a very prominent point. There truly is little left to do here...as unsavory as the option may be, we must follow through on it if we are to stand a chance at survival." The luxio turned toward the other patrol, charging up so his next attack would count.

Azur nodded, "Right...these guys aren't going to hold back. We can't either." she let loose a shadow ball into the charging soldiers, flooring one of them. The others slowly began to nod, each accepting that they weren't dealing with people who wouldn't hesitate...wouldn't stop fighting...until someone was dead. Derra sighed, shaking her head, she was the least happy with the fact, but she wouldn't let her family and friends be hurt. She held out a paw, forming a water pulse and letting it strike another charging soldier. As Blair and Rein took down the last two, Leonel and Mako moving in to deliver the final blow, Flint cut down the last of the patrol that had spotted them, seeing that more soldiers were rushing for their position.

Flint growled, leaping away from a group of soldiers who had all brought their weapons down on where he had been. The absol glared, rushing forward into them, his sword being thrown to find home in one of their chests. Flint grabbed his blade and jumped up, coming down behind another, claws slashing down the back. The final soldier moved in, poleaxe coming down toward the dark mon, but the absol side stepped the attack, sword slashing through the soldiers neck As the body fell, Flint immediately leapt away, another batch of soldiers coming at him. The absol would have scoffed, but his sword prevented the action, so he settled for moving in. He noticed that they were starting to leave patrol soldiers behind, as this group weren't using polearms like the others, rather they were wielding one handed weapons.

One soldier, sword of his own in hand as well as a small shield, charged for Flint, flanked by another sword user and a mace wielder. The lead soldier stabbed his blade forward, forcing the absol back further, as his two cohorts further pressed the attack. Flint dodged and blocked, as one after another they came at him, trying to break through his defense and deliver a blow. Glaring, the absol quickly managed to break away, sheathing his blade as he ran up a tree, leaping off it and over the soldiers. Letting lose an ice beam the ground beneath their feet was frozen over, sending the soldiers to the ground, leaving them very vulnerable to a run by from Flint. The absol panted, before turning to face yet more soldiers, a group of four this time.

"Hmmm...it mussssst be them." Lamie grinned, watching from the keep, seeing a few flares go up, signaling that the enemy was still very much alive. "They are doing very well." she chuckled, "Good. I want an interesting battle. Especially against HIS little onessss." She grinned.

Azur was panting, leaping off of one of the soldiers, giving him a gift of a shadow ball to the face. As she landed she saw another soldier being tossed over her, smashing hard against a tree, turning to see Taze's eyes losing a blue glow, his back flames burning intensely. As she turned her attention to an approaching soldier, she saw Leonel coming down with a thunder fang, the soldier screaming from the surge of electricity that was pumped into his body. The luxio nodded at her, charging up again before moving to attack another foe. The houndour glared down at a soldier moving to strike her with a halberd, ducking under the stab, hitting him with a flamethrower to his face, before using a shadow ball to his chest, knocking him away and onto his back, flailing in agony. She saw another burning solder land on top of him, Taze leaping to her side in order to avoid a sword strike.

Azur glared, letting lose another shadow ball along side a flamethrower from the quilava, striking the attacking soldier square in the chest, knocking him off his feet. Taze turned, nodding, "Thanks." She nodded back, before heading in to meet a flail wielding opponent. Taze turned to face down an encroaching dual kama wielding soldier. The warrior was quick, Taze having to react fast to avoid getting sliced, and even than he was sure he was losing some fur. His eyes eventually began to glow, as he unleashed another psychic blast, the enemy skidding away a bit...but he wasn't sent flying like the others. The soldier chuckled, rushing back towards Taze, kamas ready to carve the quilava up. Taze glared, using a psybeam aimed at the soldiers legs. Leaping over the attack, the soldier smirked, before being struck by a flamethrower, landing in a heap on the group, Taze leaping out of the way. The soldier stood, glaring at the fire mon, ready to move in again, before feeling something crunch on his neck.

Leonel smiled, waving at Taze, "Sorry my comrade...but I do believe his resistance to your psychic abilities called for assistance." The quilava nodded, turning and blasting another soldier with a psybeam, sending him flying into a bunch of his fellows. Leonel charged up, before leaping up into the trees, coming down upon the head of a flanged mace wielder with a spark attack. The soldier wailed in agony, hitting the ground, smoke rising from his body a few moments afterward. The luxio's attack didn't go unnoticed though, as a soldier with a pair of katara charged in quickly, not allowing Leonel to charge up again. The agile soldier pressed his attack, the weapons flashing off the slivers of sun that entered the forested area. Leonel decided to take a risk, rushing in after a series of attack and using another spark attack, which did manage to push the soldier back a bit. As Leonel charged up, the soldier tried to attack again, but was slammed into by one of his comrades who was struck by a shadow ball. "Thank you Azur!" The houndour smiled, nodding.

"Damn rat! Stay still!" A soldier cursed, slashing at the yellow blur that was Rein. The pikachu chuckled, leaping up and slamming an iron tail into his face, sending the soldier to the ground, finishing him with a thunderbolt. He quickly spun about, using a quick attack into a mega punch to slam a soldier attacking Cryst into a tree, the poochyena using a shadow ball to crack his face. Rein chuckled, "Come on guys. Can't you do better?" he ran straight for a group of soldiers, dodging strikes left and right. Using an iron tail he shattered the knees of a scimitar user, grabbing his sword and hacking off its owner's head. Though he quickly lost hold of the blade, sending it careening into the body of another soldier. "Ummm...meant to do that." Cryst rolled her eyes, as she hit the guys her brother had avoided with shadow balls, knocking them off their feet.

Rein turned around quick and dodged an crushing blow from a maul. The chu glared at the soldier, who laughed, "Come on ya little mouse...sit real still and it won't hurt so much." He spun around, aiming to strike Rein's head, but the electric type easily dodged, unleashing a thunderbolt at the soldier. He staggered back a little, but otherwise didn't seem to fazed, "Little..." he came in, bringing the blunt weapon down with another bone shattering strike, Rein dodging once again. Cryst came up from behind, climbing the soldiers back, using a shadow ball point blank to his head, knocking him off balance and onto the ground. Rein took advantage of the moment, leaping into the air and coming down with an iron tail, slamming the attack home, blood spurting out. "Thanks." he smiled, giving his sis a thumbs up, Cryst nodding, before turning to yet another foe. Rein sighed, "Fucking aye...how many of them are there?"

Two soldiers came up, both making using of Monk's Spades. Rein and Cryst eyed their opponents who quickly pressed in, bringing their weapons down at the two siblings. Rein glared, dodging the attacks, though these two were significantly than the others, Cryst struggling to stay ahead of the attacks on her. The pikachu glared, trying to move to help his sister, but his own opponent intercepted each attempt, managing to land a kick into the chu's gut. The soldier quickly moved in to deliver another blow, Rein dodging it barely, while Cryst tried to push her attacker back. Rein glared, "Alright buddy!" he rushed forward, avoiding an attack, grabbing onto the soldiers arm and letting as much electricity as he could into the human. Collapsing in a smoking heap, the soldier was no longer an obstacle, and his friend was soon knocked off his feet by an iron tail to the head, Cryst finishing him with a shadow ball.

A soldier was sent screaming through the air, landing with a dull thud on the ground. Mako twitched his tentacles, glaring down at the next soldier that was his enemy. The warrior wasn't daunted, and quickly rushed in, his dual stilettos gripped tight as he dove into the attack. Mako easily dodged the stabs, making an opening for himself before striking and knocking the soldier back. But before he could deliver the final blow the soldiers torso erupted in blood as a claymore was stuck through him. The buizel blinked, before seeing his buizel sister behind the soldier, "Oops! Sorry Mako!" her tentacles were gripping the handle as she tried pulling it, "I call upon thee holy sword expalidur! Come...out...of...the...stone...already!" she yelped, as the sword was freed, the momentum sending her forward and the blade down upon another soldier. "Ah! I'm sorry!" she let go of the blade, as the unfortunate human fell to the ground.

Mako shook his head, wondering if it was safe fighting so close to Blair, but he couldn't dwell on that, as a soldier tried to cut him in two with a flamberge. Mako quickly dodged the attack, grabbing the soldier's arm with his tentacles and breaking it. With the blade free, Mako quickly grabbed it and swung it around and through the soldiers neck. The buizel quickly tossed the sword into another soldier, before unleashing an air cutter at yet another. He gave an intimidating snarl, meeting two more soldiers in combat, these two using falchions and small shields. As they neared one was slammed into by one of his comrades, the other turning and exposing his hand to an air cutter. As the soldier screamed, grabbing at his bloody stump, Mako looked to see what had tossed the other soldier. Derra growled, her tentacles waving a mace in each, striking at soldiers as she blasted those out of melee range with shadow balls. Mako rolled his eyes, typical Derra...rather than kill them she chose to smash their legs and arms, taking them out of the battle without taking their lives.

The winged and tentacled poochyena let loose a fierce snarl, before knocking one unfortunate soul of his feet, bringing both maces to his gut to send him flying into more soldiers. Mako than glared, grabbing the falchion and throwing it into a soldier that was trying to sneak up on his sister. "Stay the fuck away from my sister!" He rushed forward, grabbing the blade, tearing it out of the soldiers body, and beheading him with it. Derra looked back, "Thank you Mako." She smashed the arms of one soldier, a loud crack sounding out as his limbs became limp. The buizel nodded, tossing the sword into the groin of another soldier, using an air cutter to quickly end his pain. Blair leapt back to her siblings, grinning, "This is fun...but I can't seem to use any of those weapons...I keep losing control and accidentally lopping off a limb." She crossed her arms, "No fair...I'll never intentionally stop one of these guys at this rate."

Flint looked around, panting hard, covered in blood from his numerous kills. And yet despite all of his effort, there was no end to the soldiers, in fact it looked like there were more than ever, and he could see pokemon appearing in the army too, and better armed and armored soldiers. This was going nowhere, the others were starting to get tired from the fighting, as countless bodies piled up. "Guys! We need to fall back! There's way to many people here. And more are coming!"

The others looked around, nodding their agreement, "I'll keep their attention." Flint than dove into a large mass of soldiers...and blood began to flow in mass. Flint became a twisting whirlwind of edged death, his sword and claws ripping through armor with ease. As the others slowly pulled back, they were given a great view of just how brutal the absol could be. Screams grew, as shouts for aid rang out amidst the chaos. Several soldiers left their engagement of the others to try and help put the absol down. Heads and arms and hands began to litter the area, the ground and surrounding plants becoming soaked in blood.

In the middle of the mob of soldiers was a crimson blur, small patches of white just visible if you looked hard enough. When the last of the pursuers was slain, Azur looked to the others, "Book it!"she than quickly turned to Flint, "Come on Flint! Run!" she turned and ran, looking back to make sure he was following.

The crimson blur broke from the ranks of soldiers, Flint sheathing his blade as he dashed off behind the others. He leapt forward, turning to use an ice beam on the ground, freezing it to ice and making pursuit that much more difficult. As soldiers stumbled across the ground, the group made a swift escape from the area. Flint panting hard as he brought up the rear, nearly completely covered in blood, some of it was his own.

"My lady...I'm sorry to report that they managed to escape." A human soldier kneeled before Lamie, head hung low, "We just...we weren't prepared for the absol."

Lamie was intrigued, "The absol? What was so ssssspecial about the absol?"

The soldier looked up, "More than half of the fatalities we suffered were by his claw. He was a demon...he rushed right into us to let the others escape. We tried to bring him down...but he was beyond anything we could have anticipated." he clenched his fist, "He ran covered in blood...and I don't know if any of it was his."

The seviper grinned, "Hmmm...fascinating. He must definitely be HISsss son than." she chuckled, "I'm going to enjoy fighting him." she returned her attention back to the soldier, "But...what about the others?"

"They weren't as nearly deadly as the absol...but they were very skilled. Aside from 2 buizel and a poochyena having wings and tentacles, there was also a quilava with psychic abilities. The winged ones, and the quilava were very dangerous foes, and below them were the rest. A pikachu who's only strength is speed, another, normal, poochyena, a houndour, and a luxio."

Lamie nodded, "I see...well...they might just try to attack us again...so I want you to alert the men to stay on guard. The soldier nodded, "Dismissed." he nodded again, leaving. Lamie grinned, looking off into the horizon, "My my...so this absol is tough...good...I want a challenge." she grinned, "I'll make my mother and father proud by dealing with the best in this little group. And how fortunate that the best is the son of Orochi's ssssslayer."

Flint shook himself dry of the water, eyes down on the ground. When they had escaped, the first thing everyone did was avoid him. They had taken one look at him, and immediately were beset by fear, even Mako was unnerved by the pitiless spectacle, and the blood soaked evidence of Flint's brutality. The buizel may not have recoiled, but he did move to put himself between Flint and his sisters...as if he'd actually attack any of them. The absol sighed, picking up his blade, which like him was freshly cleaned, and went back to rejoin the others. Night had already taken the area, their battle and escape having taken up what had been left of the day.

Flint stopped in a clearing close to where they had set up camp, taking out his blade and pushing it into the ground. He than sat down, staring at the implement of war...of death...of bloodshed. He shook his head, the images of the terrified faces of his friends still burned into his mind. The only people who didn't shrink away in fear were Leonel and Azur, the latter of which came up to him concerned. The absol looked down his body, seeing a few cuts and slashes, already starting to heal, thank in large to the healing means that were abundant in the wild.

His injuries weren't sever, he had taken worse...much worse. Flashes of that day played in his mind, and he immediately shook his head, dispelling the past. That was a long time ago...when he wasn't as strong...when he wasn't as capable of protecting his sister...of protecting everyone he cared about.

~Am I really fighting to protect them...~ the thought tore its way through his skull. He slowly looked up into the night sky, empty of the moon thanks to cloud cover...as if the white sphere itself was frightened of him. "What am I?" he closed his eyes, tears starting to form, "Am I a monster?" he took a sharp intake of breath, "Am I a protector?" his eyes slowly opened, "Am I something unholy?"

He quickly lifted his paw than slammed it into the ground, clenching his teeth, "Do I...do it for them...or for...for..." he shuddered, as a familiar voice rang in his mind, "The thrill of battle." He slowly began to calm down, "Is...is it wrong if I did? I still protect them while doing it right?" he wiped at his eyes, sniffling a little, "I'm...protecting them all the same aren't I? So...it's okay...if I enjoy the fight...right?"

He shook his head, "Or do I just have a convenient excuse for my actions." He sighed, resting his head against the flat of his sword. Several minutes passed before someone walked up, "Flint?"

The absol didn't move, "Yeah Azur?"

The houndour sat down next to him, nudging her brother gently, "Are you okay?"

He lifted his head and looked to her, "Yeah...I'm fine...just a little tired." he gave a yawn.

She nodded, not fully believing him, "Okay, come on back than. We'll get some sleep." she gently nuzzled her brother. Flint nodded, nuzzling her back, "Alright." He sheathed his blade, following his sister back to the camp, "You know...we'll have to go back to the castle."

Azur looked at him, "I know. We have to stop these guys...if they have that many soldiers here..."

Flint nodded, "Arceus knows how many they have elsewhere."


	7. Chapter 7

Besieged

Chapter 7

By Mecha-Mightyanador

Azur tapped her paw, thinking of how to take care of Koshi castle, Flint sitting in quiet contemplation himself. Taze shook his head at the whole concept though, "It's too dangerous guys…I mean…we barely got out of there the first time. Why do you want to go back?"

Flint looked the quilava, "It's because we barely got out of there. They had way to many soldiers there for it to be just a small time group…they have to have huge numbers, spreading out all over the land." The absol stood up, "We have to go in there and find out more about these guys…we can't just sit back and let them do whatever they want."

Taze sighed, "I suppose so…but I still don't like it. I mean…how do we get in there without getting cut to ribbons by all those soldiers?"

Azur humphed, "That's what we're trying to figure out Taze." She looked at the ground, to a drawing of the castle and surrounding landscape that Mako had made at Cryst's request. "Have you thought of anything Cryst?"

The poochyena was staring intently at the drawing, her mind trying to work out the best course of action. Eventually her eyes widened, as the plan snapped together, "I think I have an idea…we split up into two groups. A smaller group will sneak into the castle and recover the data, while a larger group does hit and runs, taking out patrols and sending the enemy on a wild goose chase."

Leonel smiled, "Wow…that's a marvelous plan. As long as the distracting group keeps moving and hitting the enemy all around…they'll never be able to catch them. And they might even be able to use their own signal flares against them."

Mako nodded, "Alright…we have a plan…so who's sneaking in?"

Cryst thought about it, "It has to be a group of good fighters, but not all of the best. I think Flint, Mako, Taze and Leonel should go in. We can have Rein, Blair and Azur here." She nodded, "Yes…that way the guys can deal with all of the real tough ones inside…cause I'm sure at least the one in charge of this fort is tough."

Flint nodded, "I'm good with this plan." He pointed to a spot of the castle, "The wall here was next to some big rocks…one was flat…so we can stand on it while Taze raises us up to the wall."

Leonel grinned, "Astounding." He chuckled, "I for one am all for this plan."

Taze sighed, "Alright…I still don't like the idea…but I'm in."

Taze, Leonel, Flint and Mako gathered up, Azur looking to them, "You guys be careful now."

Taze blushed, "Uhh…thanks."

Mako smirked, "Ha…we'll grind them to dust."

Leonel bowed, "I shall strive to meet your wish."

Flint just looked to his sister, "You guys be careful too. Don't do anything reckless." He turned to the others, "Come on…we need to hide close to the wall and wait for the distraction." The others nodded and followed the absol off to where they would wait.

Azur smiled, before looking to the rest of the group, "Okay guys…it's up to us to make sure that they encounter as little trouble as possible." They all nodded, Azur grinning, "We're gonna show those guys not to underestimate us!"

"Can you believe how badly that fight went? A bunch of kids managed to not only escape, but they took out a lot of our men." A soldier spoke, looking towards the site of the battle.

"Feh…luck. Besides, they aren't normal kids you know. They're supposed to be the children of those pokemon that defeated Orochi." A second spoke out, "We're talking about a fucking demon snake…killed by a few pokemon. It's not like you can expect their kids not to at least be something like the parents."

A third scoffed, "Idiots…you talk as if the master isn't already planning something grand for the dogs." He chuckled, "Even now…I bet a noose is being closed around their necks…and then…in but an instant…they'll hang limp from a tree." He broke into laughter, the other two soldiers staring at him.

The first shrugged, "I guess you're right. The boss is smart...and he wouldn't just let a couple of runts have free run over his empire. Besides, they still couldn't beat the whole of our forces, and lady Lamie is still here. We can't do anything but triumph, no matter who these vermin are."

The third smirked, "Exactly! To the glory of the Noboru Taka army!" the other two raised their fists into the air, echoing the cheer. The third soldier promptly fell forward, landing on the ground with a dull thud. Before the other two could react, two winged and tentacle mon fell atop them, grabbing their arms, while blasting their heads with shadow balls and water guns. As the other two soldier collapsed, out cold, Derra and Blair grinned, "Behold the power of the almighty sisters!" Blair exclaimed, making Derra shake her head.

Azur grinned, "Alright…now…let's get their flares and…hmm…Cryst…any ideas on how to use these things? I mean…Leonel did say we could."

The poochyena thought about it before smiling, "It looks like we could put a fuse…hmm." She grabbed a few sticks, as well as things to make some make shift fuses and ropes. "Okay…if we tied the flares to sticks we can put them in the ground and with the fuse we can make them go off after some time." She chuckled, "We can confuse them and make them think there's a lot more of us than there really is."

Azur grinned, "Great. Rein…since you're the fastest one hear you'll go and put them in several spot before lighting them up. Okay?"

The Pikachu smirked, "This task will be easy for me. You've got nothing to worry about while I'm on the job." He grinned, as Cryst instructed Blair to start creating the times flares. The buizel was able to work fast thanks to the tentacles alongside her paws, and soon gave Rein 3 flairs, each with a different length fuse. "Remember Rein, start with the longest fuse first." He nodded, grinning before dashing off. "And don't let them see you!" Blair quickly called out.

Flint sat quietly, patiently waiting for any signs that the others had created a distraction. Mako's tentacles were twitching and swaying, his eyes peering over the area for the same sign. Taze was sitting quietly, deep in thought. Leonel was looking at the others, before sitting next to Taze, "Are you alright Taze?" The luxio tilted his head, "You seem rather deep in thought?" he kept his voice down to avoid unnecessary attention from outside ears.

Taze gave a quick look up, "Nothing…I'm just focusing for the lift up."

Leonel tilted his head, "Pardon my prying curiosity and feel free to decline to answer my question, but why do you need to focus?"

Taze sighed, "My dad could use psychic abilities but he wasn't really psychically inclined. He just used attacks…." He paused briefly, "I'm…a lot more psychic than him…I can feel emotions of those around me and I can read minds if I focus. But…it's kinda hard to focus on using my abilities like what I need to do now…I'm not that great at focusing on the fly."

Leonel nodded, "I see…so…it's easier if you already know what you're doing before doing it then?" Taze gave a quick nod, "Astounding." He tilted his head, "I am rather curious than…if your power is more in tune with your mind and its state…do your emotions play a factor in your power."

Taze nodded again, "Yes…when I'm scared my power can rocket…I'd imagine it'd be the same when angry or happy too." He looked away, "When I'm unsure…I can't do much."

Leonel nodded, "Well you have nothing to fear my friend! I'm more than confident in your abilities; we shall snatch up a grand victory this day with your help."

Taze just stared at the luxio, before smiling and giving a nod, "R…right. No worries."

"Flint." Mako pointed towards an ascending flare…followed by a second that was far off from the first, and than a third in yet another location. The absol nodded, looking to the buizel, "Let's go Mako. Leonel, Taze come on." The other two nodded, and dashed out from the cover towards the side of the castle. They could hear utter chaos in the fortification, as the soldiers rushed to reinforce the three areas that were under attack. The four quickly climbed unto a large flat rock, looking around, Flint looking to Taze, "Alright Taze…get us up there."

The quilava gave a nod, his eyes glowing blue as the stone beneath their feet rumbled and shook before lifting off the ground. "Just take us just below the wall…I'll look and see if there are any guards stationed atop it." Taze gave a quick nod as he kept raising the boulder, reaching the spot. Flint quickly climbed up and scanned both ways before looking back, "Alright it's clear, come on!" Leonel and Mako leapt onto the wall, Taze going last, the rock falling back to the ground with a thud. The four ducked keeping their ears peeled for any shouts that they had been spotted. After a few seconds Flint motioned for the others to follow.

~Hmmm, thissss issss most peculiar.~ Lamie hissed to herself, surveying the horizon, seeing several more flares shoot up into the air, all in different locations. ~All these flaressss…are we being attacked by a large number of foesssss…another army maybe? No.~ She smirked, "Ingeniousssss plan, using our very flares against usssss."

Her eyes soon darted down to a wall, grinning at what she saw, "A distraction so a sssssmall group can sneak in here. Very ssssmart." She chuckled, slithering out of the room to intercept the infiltration force, "And what luck that the absol isssss here…I finally get to see if he lives up to his father'ssss name." she gave a malicious smirk as she moved.

Azur smirked, as she and the others dispatched of another group of soldiers, grabbing their flares to make more distractions. Rein returning from another run of setting decoys, "Heh…those guys are running circles trying to find out what's going on. They don't know up from down now."

Blair giggled, "This is so much fun…here Rein, another batch. Be careful out there now."

He gave a salute before dashing off, the others doing the same to make another ambush location. Adding to the confusion was the fact that the soldiers themselves were sending up even more flares as they came across their fallen comrades. Complete chaos had enveloped the forested area near the castle, shouts and boot stomping echoing out as they tried to make sense of what was going on.

Eventually yet another tired and confused batch of soldiers came into the sights of the mon, "Fuck it all, what's going on!?" The soldier's outcry was soon met with a flamethrower to the face, falling back as he clutched his face, screaming in pain. Another was yanked off his feet and dragged through the brush, Derra and Blair each holding a leg. The remaining soldiers tried to prepare themselves to face the attackers, Cryst coming down atop one and blasting repeatedly at his head. Azur used the distraction to take out another, Rein returning from his decoy run to slam an iron tail into the back of the last soldier. The Pikachu chuckled, "Heh…sorry for stealing one, but I'm getting kinda bored just running around and planting fake flares."

Cryst smiled, "It's okay Rein." Blair and Derra returned and the process resumed, more distracting flares were made, given to the chu who quickly dashed off. "Come on…we should stay in sight of the main door. Flint and the others said they'd blast it open when they were done in there." Azur nodded, and they quickly made their way closer to the forest edge, the houndour looking to Cryst, "Hey Cryst…how can your brother find us so easily anyway?"

"Mom said it's a chu thing…I guess as long as he doesn't go too far away he has a good feeling of where we are."

Azur nodded, "Cool."

Flint huffed, as the body of a guard fell to the floor with a dull thud. Looking back the absol saw Mako driving another guard through with his own spear, while Leonel and Taze sent a very unlucky guard flying through a door. Flint nodded, "Alright, lets keep moving." He went to a door and opened it, looking in to make sure no guards were present before signaling the others to follow.

"Well well well, what have we here? Intruderssss?"

Flint glared, immediately turning to face the foe, seeing a seviper slithering out from the shadows. "Another guard…and all by yourself."

She chuckled, "Oh no, I'm the head of thissss castle, appointed by the master himsssself." She smirked, "And you…you are the sssson of the houndoom hero Inferno yes?"

Flint blinked, "How do you know that?"

She grinned, "My name is Lamie. My parentssss…were once proud sssservants of this castle'ssss old master."

Flint snarled, "Orochi."

Lamie grinned, nodding, "Correct." She smirked, "Now I am very curioussss as to whether or not you can live up to the legacy your father has left in hissss wake."

Flint turned to the others, "Keep going guys…try and find out something useful…I'll take care of this snake." He grabbed his blade and held it at the ready.

Lamie chuckled, seeing the other three move on, albeit reluctantly, "Aren't we brave…however you'll find I'm not a foe to be trifled with." She sprang at the absol, immediately coming in with her tail. Flint held the flat of his blade up, blocking the strike before shoving her away, pushing forward to counter attack. Lamie blocked the stick, a metal clang ringing out, Flint stepping back as she chuckled, "I've sssspent a lot of time perfecting my combat prowess…I can hold an iron tail for an hour without sssstop." She grinned, "And I can even add in some poison if I so dessssire."

The serpent went back on the offensive, slamming her tail down, Flint blocking it again, this time agilely slipping to the side to give a rising slash at her. Lamie dodged the strike, wheeling about to slash his side, but he leapt over her strike, forcing her to block a downward slash. The snake threw him back, Flint landing lightly, keeping a balanced stance. He was skilled, she couldn't deny that as she rushed back in, launching a barrage of attacks, Flint blocking each strike, waiting for an opportunity to counter. And when he got the chance his blade tip grazed along her face, Lamie quickly propelling herself back. "Huh…not bad."

She smirked, "But I'm not through." She went back in, going into the air, and bringing her tail down with extra force, Flint managing to hold his ground, though pushed back a little. Lamie did not waste the advantage, coming in hard, loud clangs ringing out with every strike as Flint was forced to take step after step back. She smirked, pressing in harder, her blows coming faster as momentum began to carry the attack. And the constant barrage was quickly pushing Flint into a wall, every blow putting him closer to a dead end. Then, as his leg hit against the wall, the absol leapt back, using the wall to push himself up to the ceiling, and throwing himself down at the seviper. Using a slash, while Lamie managed to block the blow, the sheer force of the strike knocked her across the ground.

The snake gave a hiss of anger, shaking her head before being struck by an ice beam, slamming her into a wall. Flint picked his blade back up and rushed in to finish her off. Lamie cursed, slamming her tail into the wall, lifting herself up and then propelling her form across the room, the absol's blade slamming into the wall with a loud clang. Flint quickly turned to face her, blade ready for the next move. Lamie was decidedly less certain about the course of action to take, eyeing him down, "You're exceptionally sssskilled…you definitely live up to your father'ssss name."

Flint sheathed his blade, though his mouth didn't move far from the handle, "I'll exceed it before long snake."

She chuckled, "My…ambitioussss one aren't you? I have to admit, I'm impressed." She chuckled more, tilting her head, "Tell me ambitious one…what'ssss your name?"

"Flint."

She smiled, "Flint issss it…well it's an honor to face you." She was sure now, moving back in to engage him. Flint rushing forward to meet her head on.

Taze, Mako, and Leonel walked into a large circular room with a large wooden table in the center, leaving behind a room filled with guard bodies. It had a large circle cut into it, with a screen of some sort put into it. At one section of the table was a keyboard, Mako going up to it and started tapping at the keys, but he quickly grew frustrated as he couldn't make anything happen. "I have no clue what I'm doing with this damn thing." He stepped back, before he slammed a tentacle into the potential clue.

Taze went up to it, looking over it and than the rest of the table, "Umm…I think…" he found a button, "Here we go." He pushed it, going back to the keyboard, "Now…maybe if…" he made an attempt to type out "base" producing "vase" instead.

"You hit the wrong key Taze. That is V not B." Leonel pointed out, getting a surprised look from the other two, "I've some experience with the written language. I'd enjoy telling the tale of my upbringing and how I learned it, but we are on a time table after all, and our comrade might need help up there."

Taze nodded, correcting his spelling and soon something caught his eye, "Umm…okay this should…" he hit a button and a map came up from the screen…which was more like a projector. It displayed a mark that was labeled "Koshi", while a distance away was a city called "Elmburrow" with a mark indicating a base was…in the lake that was near the city.

"Well…that is most definitely an ingenious place to put a secret base meant to cause misery and woe…at the bottom of a lake." Leonel chuckled, "or maybe the locals just don't mind the obviously evil fortress located just off shore." He motioned for them to leave, "But I think we should make our departure now."

Taze held up a paw, fiddling with the controls a bit more, "I think I can maybe find something else…at the very least we need to try and destroy this place…right?" Mako nodded, Leonel stating that the idea was a good one. However after several minutes of attempting to initiate a self destruct, they had achieved no success. "I can't do it…now what do we do?"

Leonel sighed, "I haven't a clue…I don't know if we have much in options. Flint's still alone up there too, and we should help."

Mako tilted his head, "Wait…Taze, bring up that layout of the castle again." Taze nodded, doing so, "This…" he pointed to a room that read 'Power Plant' smirking, "A power plant is basically a lot of energy right…and they can blow up…right?"

Taze blinked, before smiling, "Hey yeah! We could probably make it overcharge…it's a big room, so it should at the very least do some damage to the place." The quilava followed behind the buizel, Leonel bringing up the rear as they moved to their new target.

The screams of metal against metal rang out as Flint and Lamie kept their battle going, bodies moving and twisting as they struck out against one another again and again. Neither side was taking a clear advantage in the brawl, but they still pressed on regardless. The absol surged forward, striking repeatedly, trying to take an advantage for himself, to put the snake on the defensive. Lamie, however, blocked every strike and then forcefully shoved Flint away, slamming his body against a wall. The serpent tried to take advantage of the situation, but Flint recovered quickly and the two were back into their deadly waltz.

The room bore the scars of their conflict: chunks of floor were smashed in, various slices were cut into the walls, and several small craters existed with bits of ice in and around them. And even more damage was being done with every passing engagement, the two not letting up…refusing to give an inch to one another. As the two pressed their strikes toward the other, they glared, before leaping away. The battle was also taking its toll on them though, both were breathing heavily, despite not wanting to yield, neither were they eager to go in for another bout. "Not bad…boy…you certainly are ssssomething." Lamie chuckled, "I'm pretty impressed."

Flint huffed, "I don't care if I impress you or not….though I will concede you aren't too bad." He prepared himself for the next strike, when the others came running up the stairs to his side. Before he could ask what was going on a tremor shook the castle, "What the heck…"

Taze motioned for the door, "We need to go…we couldn't make a self destruct so we messed with the power…it's overloading and going to blow up soon."

Lamie cursed, "Those idiotssss couldn't deal with a few worthless runtssss? Gah…fine than, I guess we'll cut this fight short." She slithered for her own exit, "But I promise we'll meet again Flint." The seviper slithered away, Flint tempted to pursue…to not let the fight end…but with his friends calling for him he relented and rushed out with them. As the four made their way for the fortress, power in the structure began to fluctuate, the generators sparking violently below.

When it finally overcharged, the whole structure shuttered from the blast, and while it didn't go up in flame like the group planned, several portions of it collapsed, one section of wall falling into the cavern that was once the power plant. It may not have been completely destroyed, but it was out of commission for a good long time.

Taze gave a sigh, panting lightly, "well we did it…I hope the others are okay."

"Flint! Leonel!" Azur came trotting up, grinning, "Nice job you guys." She chuckled, "We ran circles around them out here. Come on…the others are waiting." The boys followed behind, arriving to see the others all grinning from success. Azur turned, "Find out anything useful?"

Flint turned to Taze, the quilava clearing his throat, "Well we found another base a bit away from here…it's near a human city…but it looked like it was in the lake so…I dunno how we're gonna actually get there."

Azur waved off his concern, "We'll get there when we get there." She looked to Leonel, smiling, "Till than I think a job well done all around." She giggled, trying to make herself look big, and succeed in looking smug, "They've learned already that we aren't to be trifled with. So I say we eat and celebrate our first major victory." The others all smiled and approved the idea, following behind to a batch of berries…except for Flint.

The absol trailed behind, frowning as he walked. She matched him…she actually managed to match him in combat. Lamie…she was his equal in combat…despite all his training…all his work…she was a match for him. Even if they won the day and ruined Koshi castle…Flint hadn't won the duel…she only retreated because of the others. It was so…pathetic.

Lamie chuckled as she slithered along, several of her surviving forces following behind her. Koshi was lost…but ultimately it wasn't that important in the grand scheme, and it did give her master a good idea of the strength in the group of youths. They had some tactical capability, and a couple of exceptional fighters, even a speedy little rodent that helped out their little plan. At the cost of a minor base and a few grunts, they had a good analysis of the opposition before them…and it'd be simple enough to defeat them in the future.

She smirked, but…by far the best part about today was meeting that little absol. Flint…she chuckled, he was a great fighter…he was skilled beyond all doubt, more than a match for any grunt, and even a few of her fellow officers. Plus, she had to admit, he was rather cute. She grinned, tongue flicking, "I wonder if he could be convinced to join our sssside." She snickered, slithering along…it was something worth attempting, he'd be a great soldier. "Flint…I do so look forward to our next fight." She cackled lightly to herself.


End file.
